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A  SYLLABUS 


OF 


LECTURES 


ON    THt 


SIONS 


REVELATION. 


BY  AMZi Armstrong,  a.m. 

Minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Mendhanit  N.  y. 


*'  Blessed  Is  he  that  readeth,  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of 
this  prophecy,  and  keep  those  things  which  are  written  there- 
in i  for  the  lime  is  at  hand.".. ..Rev.  i.  3. 

MORRIS-roWN,  N.J, 

PUBLISHED  BY  P.  A.  JOHNSON^ 

1815. 

H.  P.  BVSSBLLi  rSlXNTBB. 


District  op  New-Jersly,  is. 

BE  IT  REMEMBERED,  That  on  ttte  nineteenth  day  of 
April,  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of  ihe  Independence  of  the  U- 
niied  States  of  America,  PETER  A.  JOHNSON,  of  the  said 
district,  hath  deposited  in  this  office,  the  title  of  a  Book,  the 
right  whereof  he  claims  as  proprietor,  in  the  words  following, 
to  wit  : 

*'  A  Syllabus  of  Lectures  on  the  Visions  of  the  Revela- 
•'  tlon;by  Amzi  Armstrong,  A.  M.  Minister  of  the  Fresby- 
*'  terian  Church  in  Mendham,  N.  J." 

In  Conformity  to  the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  entitled,  "  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by 
Becuring  the  copies  of  rw-^^r*'  •v,«.^to,  B.i-.tiv,o<»lcs.tothe  authors  and 
proprietors  uf  sucli  copies,  during  the  times  therein  mentioned;" 
and  also  to  the  act  entitled  "  An  act  supplementary  to  the  act 
entitled  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing 
the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  jjro- 
prietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein  mentioned,  and 
extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  etching, 
and  engraving  historical  and  other  prints." 

ROBERT  BOGGS, 
Cieri  of  the  District  of  Nexv^yersey, 


TO  THE  PUBLIC,     '^^: 


After  frequently  reviewing,  and  care- 
fully examining,  in  the  course  of  twenty 
years  past,  those  leading  sentiments,  in 
which  I  was  really  constrained  to  differ 
from  the  commonly  received  opinions, 
in  explaining  the  Visions  of  the  Revela- 
tion, I  ventured,  last  winter,  to  commence 
a  com'se  of  Lectures  on  the  subject. 

xlnd  now,  to  afford  those  who  heard 
them  an  opportunity  deliberately  to  ex- 
amine those  sentiments  ;  ^nd  to  submit 
thenl  to  the  consideratioii  of  my  Ciirls- 
tian  friends  generally,  I  publish  an  ab- 
stract of  the  Lectures,  designed  to  give 
a  simple  statement  of  the  principles,  on 
which  I  think  the  Visions  of  the  Kevela- 
tion  ought  to  be  explained. 

A.   ARMSTRONG. 

3Igndbam,  April  ^^  1815. 


LE  CTURE  I. 


LECTURE  L 


IJ^TBOBUCTORT. 

REVELATION,  i.  1. 

^^  The  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christy  which  God  gave 
unto  hiniy  to  shexv  unto  his  servants  things  which 
must  shortly  come  to  pass;  and  he  sent  and  signifi- 
ed it  by  his  angel  unto  his  servant  John*^ 

JLHIS  introductory  paragraph  gives  a 
compendious  view  of  the  history,  the  subject, 
and  the  design  of  **  the  Book  of  the  Revela- 
tion." 

1st.  The  History. 

It  is  "  the  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  which 
God  gave  unto  him." 

**  Prophecy  came  not  in  old  time  by  the  will 
of  man;  but  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

And  now,  **God  who,  at  sundry  times,  and 
in  divers  manners,  spake  in  time  past  unto  the 
fathers  by  the  Prophets,  hath  i/i  'he-se  last  days 
spoken  unto  us  by  his  Sun^  whom  he  haih  ap- 
pointed heir  of  all  things." 


8  Introductory,  [lec.  i. 

It  was  indeed  **  the  Spirit  of  Christy  in  the 
Prophets,  that  testified  beforehand  the  suffer- 
ings of  Christ,  and  the  glory  that  should  fol- 
low." 

But  even  when  he  came  in  his  own  person  to 
reveal  the  Father  unto  men,  and  to  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  truth,  he  received  a  commandment 
of  the  Father  what  he  should  say,  and  what  he 
should  speak  ;  and  declared,  **  whatsoever  I 
speak,  therefore,  even  as  the  Father  said  unto 
me,  so  Ispeak'\.../o/z;/,  xii.  50.  In  all  things 
he  professed  to  perform  the  Father's  will,  and 
to  receive  from  him  whatever  he  bestowed  on 
men,  and  whatever  he  claimed  as  his,  even  to 
the  kingdom  appointed  unto  him  of  the  Father. 
He  testified,  **  as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself, 
so  hath  he  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in  him- 
self ;  and  hath  given  him  authority  to  execute 
judgment  also,  because  he  is  the  Son  of  man." 
Johns  V.  26,  27. 

It  is  in  the  character  of  the  Son  of  man  that 
he  says,  {Mark^  xiii.  32)  "  But  of  diat  day  and 
that  hour,  knoweth  no  man,  no.  not  the 
angels  which  are  in  heaven,  neither  the  Son, 
bat  the  Father."  It  is  in  the  same  character 
that  he  receives  also  this  Revelation  given  him 
of  God. 


Introduclorif.  9 

Exalted  to  the  throne  ofdominion,  with  **  all 
power  given  unto  him  in  heaven  and  in  earth,'' 
and  made  "  to  be  head  over  all  things  to  the 
Church,"  whatever  is  necessary  or  useful  for 
the  Church,  is  committed  to  him,  **  in  whom 
are  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowl- 
edge." 

This  Revelation,  thus  given  to  Jesus  Christ, 
he  communicated  for  the  benefit  of  his  Church 
and  people  ;  "  and  he  sent  and  signified  it  by 
his  angel  to  his  servant  John." 

John  was  the  last  of  the  apostles.  His  breth- 
ren had  been  removed  to  the  presence  of  their 
Master  in  glory.  And  while  John  yet  contin- 
ued to  suffer  for  the  **  testimony  of  Jesus,  and 
for  the  word  ot  God,"  his  Master  honored  him 
to  be  the  especial  revealer  of  his  purposes  con- 
cerning his  Church  in  all  future  ages  of  the 
world ;  and  to  bear  his  last  testimony  from 
what  he  himself  saw,  and  in  what  he  was  com- 
missioned to  declare  to  the  Churches.  He  was 
favored  with  a  vision,  such  as  mortal  eyes  could 
behold,  of  a  portion  of  the  glory  of  his  exalted 
Lord  and  Master  ;  and  received  from  his  own 
lips  his  messages  to  the  seven  Churches  in  Asia. 
But  the  Revelation  itself  was  sent,  and  signifi- 
ed  to  him  by  his  angel. 


iO  IiUvoductory.  [lec.  r. 

The  ancient  Prophets,  particularly  Ezekiel^ 
Daniel^  and  Zecliariah,  had  formerly  received 
revelations  in  a  similar  manner.  Visions  were 
presented  to  their  observation,  in  which  they 
not  only  saw  the  symbolical  representation  of 
future  things  ;  but  also  heard,  and  even  con* 
versed  with  the  persons  bearing  a  part  in  the 
representations.  The  representation  itself  was 
undoubtedly  by  tl  e  Divine  Power :  But  angels 
were  commissioned  to  direct  their  attention  to 
them,  and  to  explain  such  particulars  in  them, 
as  might  prevent  them  from  misapprehensions 
and  mistakes. 

The  Revelation  thus  communicated  to  John, 
consisted  of  twelve  distinct  prophetic  visions, 
representing  to  him,  under  various  circumstan- 
ces of  deep  and  important  interest,  a  series  of 
the  chief  great  events  concerning  the  Church 
of  God  to  the  end  of  time. 

This  is,  2dly,  The  Subject  of  the  Revelation 
•— "  Things  which  must  shortly  come  to  pass." 

The  ancient  Prophecies  had,  from  the  begin- 
ning, revealed  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  sin- 
ners, and  the  King  of  Zion  ;  without  noticing 
the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  or  the  nations  of 
men,  any  otherwise  than  as  their  existence  or 
conduct  were  occasionally  connected  intimate- 


Inlvoiluctovy.  41 

\y  with  the  name  of  Christ,  or  the  great  inter- 
ests of  his  Church  and  kingdom  on  earth.  This 
Revelation  is  continued  on  the  same  principles, 
and  regards,  not  the  political,  or  even  moral, 
changes  or  series  of  events  that  affect  only  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world,  but  the  state  and  pro. 
gress  of  that  kingdom  which  the  God  of  heav- 
en has  set  up.  It  is  a  prophetic  view  of  Christ's 
holy  and  glorious  providence  over  his  people, 
guiding  and  guarding  them  in  their  pilgrim- 
age, and  preserving  and  conducting  his  Church 
till  she  shall  "  come  up  from  the  wilderness, 
leaning  upon  her  Beloved." 

In  this  course  of  his  providence,  his  people 
must  be  sometimes  chastised,  and  sometimes 
comforted ;  and  their  enemies  must  be  con- 
trouled,  and  judged.  And  as  he  will  rebuke 
kings  for  his  people's  sakes.  and  overturn  em- 
pires to  make  a  way  for  his  redeemed,  the 
names  and  character  of  these  kings  and  em- 
pires may  be  mentioned,  and  so  much  of  their 
policy  and  of  their  history  be  brought  into 
view,  as  may  be  necessary  to  illustrate  the 
holy  providence  of  the  King  of  Zion  over  the 
kingdom  of  his  heritage.  On  these  principles 
alone,  may  we  apply  the  things  here  revealed, 
to  the  concerns  of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world. 


13  Introduction.  [lec.  i. 

They  are  also  described  as  "things  that 
must  SHORTLY  come  to  pass" — Or,  as  the 
phrase  ipight  be  rendered,  come  to  pass 
SPEEDILY,  or  IN  quicK  SUCCESSION  ;  im- 
porting, either  that  the  beginning  of  them  was 
already  accomplishing,  and  they  were  all  sure- 
ly to  be  fulfilled  in  their  order  without  delay  ; 
or,  that  the  whole  time  of  their  accomplishing 
would  be  short  indeed  compared  with  that 
state  of  things  they  we're  to  introduce. 

3dly.  The  Design  of  this  Revelation  is,"  To 
shew  unto  his  servants,"  these  things. 

It  is  not  to  guide  the  speculations  of  vain 
theorists  in  searching  after  things  to  come  ; 
nor  is  it  to  soothe  the  impatience  of  men  un- 
der their  anxieties  about  future  events  :  it  is 
not  a  revelation  of  all  things  future  ;  nor  even 
of  the  things  generally  that  should  take  pUcc 
in  the  world :  but,  simply,  of*  things  that  must 
shortly  come  to  pass  :"  That  is,  of  some 
events,  certainly  not  unimportant  in  themselves, 
nor  uninteresting  to  mankind  in  general,  but 
especially  interesting  to  Christ's  servants,  and 
useful  for  them  to  know,  both  for  the  direction 
of  their  expectations  and  their  conduct,  and 
for  the  support  and  confirmation  of  their  faith 
in  him  who  reveals  them, 


Introfluclory,  •18 

The  ancient  prophecies  served  these  im- 
portant purposes  to  the  fathers.  And  Christ's 
own  prediction  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem was  eminently  useful  to  his  servants  who 
lived  in  Judea  at  the  time  of  its  fulfilment. 

So  this  revelation  is  designed  to  serve  the 
same  purposes  to  his  servants  in  all  ages  till 
his  second  coming.  It  is  a  revelation  not  for 
the  world  generally,  nor  for  worldly  and  pro- 
fane men  ;  but  for  the  servants  of  Christ  ; 
and  is  designed  to  answer  every  desirable  and 
proper  purpose  to  them,  that  a  revelation  of 
things  to  come  could  answer. 

Now,  from  the  view  given  in  the  text  of  the 
history  of  this  book,  we  are  admonished  to  re- 
ceive and  consider  it  as  the  gift  of  God  by 
Jesus  Christ.  The  representations  it  contains 
of  future  events  were,  by  the  Divine  power, 
made  to  John.  And  lest  he  should  fail  duly 
to  notice  them,  and  lest  they  should  be  mis- 
interpreted or  misapplied,  a  special  Messenger 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  was  employed 
to  direct  his  attention,  and  to  explain  to  him 
the  subjects  of  these  representations,  so  far  as 
was  needful,  that  he  might  intelligibly  record 
them. 

B 


14  Intrcduciory.  [lec.  i. 

The  representations  are  therefore  to  be  in- 
terpreted on  the  principles  of  figures,  or  hiero- 
gliphics,  and  the  explanations  literally. 

The  revelation  itself  commences  with  the 
4th  chapter  of  the  book,  and  ends  with  the  5th 
verse  of  the  last  chapter. 

In  considering  the  subjectof  this  revelation, 
we  may  not  calculate  on  human  principles,  or 
rely  on  human  wisdom,  to  determine  what  we 
may  expect  to  find  it.  Conformably  to  all 
other  revelations    from   God,  the  subject  is, 

THE  POWER,  AXD  THE  GRACE  OF  CHRIST,  IN 
HIS   GREAT   PURPOSE  OF   REDEEMING  LOVE. 

Representations  of  these  are  made  in  twelve 
prophetic  visions. 

The  1st  exhibiting  Christ  himself  opening 
the  Seals  of  the  Divine  Decrees,  and  thereby 
giving  a  view  of  the  general  aspect  of  his  pro- 
vidence  over  his  Church,  from  the  time  of  his 
exaltation  to  his  second  coming,  in  seven  vari- 
ous characters  or  dispensations  of  that  provi- 
dence, at  as  many  different  periods  in  that  por- 
tion of  time. 

The  2d  declaring,  under  the  sounding  of 
seven  Trumpets,  as  many  special  and  distin- 
guished judgments,  which,  in  answer  to  the 
prayers  and  complaintsof  his  suflcring  people,  he 


Introductory.  ±5 

would  execute  upon  their  enemies,  within  the 
same  period  of  time,  till  he  shall  finally  deliver 
them,  from  all  the  power  of  them  that  afflict  them. 

The  3d  making  a  marked  distinction  of  the 
real  from  the  nominal  Church  of  God  ;  and 
describing  the  condition  of  the  former,  during 
a  specified  term  of  time. 

The  4th  giving  a  general  view  of  the  hatred 
and  persecutions  of  the  great  adversary,  against 
the  Church  of  God,  and  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  in  die  world,  under  the  figure  of  a 
woman  persecuted  by  a  dragon* 

The  5th  describing,  under  the  character  of 
beasts,  the  principal  agents  by  whose  instru- 
mentality the  adversary  vents  his  hatred,  and 
carries  on  his  persecutions  against  the  Church, 
for  the  space  of  1260  years. 

The  6th  giving  a  general  view  of  the  final 
triumphing  of  Christ's  servants,  and  of  the 
account  to  which  he  will  bring  the  instruments 
of  the  adversary's  cruelty,  in  the  harvest  and 
the  vintage  of  the  earth. 

The  7th  describing,  under  the  figure  of  the 
pouring  out  of  seven  vials  of  wrath,  the  par- 
ticular judgments  by  which  Christ  will  bring 
to  an  end  the  controversy,  in  which  the  agents 
and  instruments  of  the  adversary  enlist  them- 
selves against  him. 


16  Introductory.  [lec,  r. 

The  8th  describing  the  character,  and  giv- 
ing the  destiny  of  an  apostate  and  antichris- 
tian  community  under  the  name  of  Babylon. 

The  9lh  shewing  the  fall  and  utter  destruction 
of  that  apostate  community,  in  its  whole  polity 
and  possessions,  under  the  idea  of  the  fall  and 
utter  ruin  of  the  city  of  Babylon. 

The  10th  declaring  the  final  triumph  of 
Christ  over  all  his  enemies,  and  their  entire 
subversion  in  "  the  battle  of  that  great  day  of 
God  Almighty." 

The  1  Ith  predicting  the  millennial  state  of 
the  Church. 

And  the  12th  the  New  Jerusalem. 

In  all  these  particulars,  the  power  and  the 
grace  of  Christ  are  here  pledged,  in  a  progressive 
discipline,  and  effectual  care  over  his  servants, 
till  they  shall  all  be  complete  in  him,  and  every 
one  of  them,  in  Zion,  appear  before  God. 

It  is  a  most  interesting  prospective  history  of 
that  providence,  which,  through  the  wisdom 
and  power  of  the  Godhead,  Jesus  Christ  shall 
accomplish  in  his  care  over  his  Church,  which 
he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood,  till  he 
shall  **  present  it  to  himself  a  glorious  Church, 
— holy  and  without  blemish." 

Lastly,  The  design  is  worthy  of  the  author. 


Introductory.  17 

and  is  well  answered  by  the  nature  and  the 
manner  of  the  revelation. 

It  is  worthy  of  Him,  who  is  the  first  and 
the  last— who  declareth  the  end  from  the  be- 
ginning, when  he  calls  his  servants  to  the  hon- 
or and  the  rewards  of  a  co-operation  with  him, 
to  give  them  some  distinct  intimations,  not 
only  of  the  final  result,  but  also  of  the  pro- 
gressive steps,  and  the  various  means  and  cir- 
cumstances, in  which  he  will  accomplish  his 
great  and  good  purpose  concerning  the  Church 
of  his  redeemed. 

And  it  is  worthy  of  Him,  who  calls  his  ser- 
vants confidently  to  trust  in  him  at  all  times, 
and  for  all  things  pertaining  to  life  and  godli- 
Hcss,  to  afford  them  a  continued  and  constantly 
present  evidence  of  his  power  and  grace  to 
supply  all  their  wants.  In  the  first  ages  after 
his  exaltation,  he  gave  them  the  testimony  of 
miracles  to  witness  his  constant  presence  and 
regard  to  them.  But  through  all  ages,  "  the 
testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy," 
and  is  witness  to  this  hour  that  "  all  judgment 
is  committed  to  the  Son,"  and  that  he  is  **  made 
head  overall  things  to  the  Church." 

The  nature  also  of  this  revelation,  is  such 
as^seems  most  desirable  and  useful  for  the  ser- 
h2 


18  Introdiiciory,  [lec.  i. 

vants  of  Christ,  to  keep  them  in  that  humble 
and  expecting  temper  in  which  they  ought  to 
wait  on  him  ;  and  to  admonish  them  of  the 
danger  of  all  near  alliances  with  the  world,  as 
well  as  to  warn  them  of  particular  and  eminent 
seasons  and  circumstances  of  trial  and  of  dan- 
ger through  which  they  must  pass. 

The  manner  of  it,  likewise,  is  such  as  ac- 
cords with  every  rational,  certainly  with  every 
scriptural,  idea  of  true  prophecy. 

In  some  of  the  ancient  prophecies  concern- 
ing nations  or  people  who  were  never  to  read 
them  for  themselves,  before  the  accomplishment, 
the  representations  or  predictions  are  not  obscu- 
red by  hieroglyphics ;  but  are  to  be  understood 
literally.  In  many  prophecies, however,  a  degree 
of  obscurity  seems  necessary,  if  for  no  other 
reason,  yet,  that  they  may  not  stand  in  the  way 
of  their  own  fulfilment.  This  revelation  is 
plain  enough,  to  give  those  who  respectfully 
study  and  regard  it,  all  needful  intimations  of 
the  duties  their  master  expects  of  them  in  the 
course  of  its  fulfilling,  and  of  aU  the  dangers 
and  snares  he  would  itach  them  to  avoid.  It  is 
sufficient  also  to  assure  his  faithful  servants,  at 
all  times,  of  his  supreme  providence  and  con- 
stant care  over  his  Church,  and  of  his  faithiul- 


Introductory,  19 

ness  to  perform,  in  every  particular,  that  he 
hath  promised  ;  while,  at  the  sam^  time,  it  is  so 
obscnre  as  not  to  prevent  its  own  accomplish- 
ment ;  and  as  not  to  force  conviction  on  men 
generally,  who  read  it^  concerning  the  character 
of  its  author.  It  leaves  them  in  that  free  con- 
dition, which  is  indispensible — in  rhat  state  of 
discipline  and  probation  for  which  the  present 
life  is  designed.  In  such  a  state,  men's  moral 
faculties  must  have  scope,  or  there  can  be  no 
probation  ;  and  in  the  controul  which  the 
Most  High  maintains  over  them,  room  must 
be  left  for  the  exercise  of  these  faculties,  or 
they  cannot  be  disciplined  as  their  rational  na- 
ture requires.  It  is  therefore  of  the  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  God,  that  a  revelation  of 
things  that  must  shortly  come  to  pass,  when 
made  to  those  whom  it  chiefly  regards,  should 
be  clouded  with  some  obscurity.  It  is  how- 
ever entirely  consistent  with  these  principles, 
to  suppose  that  they  whose  hearts  are  truly 
turned  to  the  Lord,  and  habituated  to  a  temper 
of  sincere  obedience  to  him,  and  of  confident 
trust  in  his  word,  may,  by  serious  and  diligent 
study,  attain  to  some  good  and  satisfactory  un- 
derstanding of  such  a  revelation.  And  that 
they  may,  was  declared  to  Daniel  when  it  was 


20  Introductory.  [lec.  i. 

said  to  him,  (Dan.  xii.  10,)  "None  of  the 
wicked  shaP  understand  ;  but  the  wise  shall 
understand."  It  is,  perhaps,  always  to  be  at- 
tributed to  the  perverse  inclinations,  the  way- 
ward tempers,  or  the  profane  fancies  of  men, 
rather  than  to  any  impenetrable  obscurity  in 
the  visions  of  the  revelation,  that  they  are  not 
better  understood.  It  is  consistent  with  the 
same  principles  also,  to  expect  that,  when 
many  of  the  prophecies  contained  in  the  reve- 
lation have  been  fulfilled,  and  especially  when 
some  of  the  last  great  interesting  scenes  which 
they  reveal  are  displaying,  and  hastening  to  a 
close,  they  for  whose  sake  they  were  revealed, 
the  true  servants  of  Jesus,  shall  have  their  un- 
derstanding much  enlarged  on  these  subjects, 
according  to  that  other  declaration  to  Daniel 
(xii.  4,)  **  Many  shall  run  to  and  fro,  and 
knowledge  shall  be  increased." — "  And  they 
that  understand  among  the  people  shall  instruct 
many."  To  these  times,  certainly,  is  emi- 
nently applicable  that  declaration,  nearly  con- 
nected with  our  text,  in  the  3d  verse  of  the 
chapter,  **  Blessed  is  he  that  readeth,  and  they 
that  hear  the  words  of  his  prophecy,  and  keep 
those  things  which  are  >vritten  therein  j  for  the 
time  is  at  hand." 


LECTURE  II. 


LE  CTURE  II. 


The  Vision  of  the  Sealed  Book. 

REVELATION  v.  1. 

*'  And  I  saw  in  the  right  hand  of  him  that  sat  on  the 
throne  a  book  written  withiny  and  on  the  back  side 
sealed  xvith  seven  seals,''^ 

XHIS  was,  probably,  the  most  august 
Vision,  that  ever  mortal  eyes  beheld.  The 
awful  glories  of  Sinai,  and  the  resplend- 
ent visions  of  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel,  seem  here 
united  ;  and  the  glorious  appearance  of  the 
Lamb,  with  the  universal  concert  of  worship 
addressed  to  him,  give  the  vision  a  life  and  a 
glory  before  unequalled  in  all  that  prophet  had 
ever  described,  or  the  eyes  of  man  had  ever 
witnessed. 

It  was  a  great  occasion  ;  interesting  to  an- 
gels, and  to  men.  "  The  Lamb,  slain  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world>"  had,  according 
to  the  proph<tcies  and  promises  concerning 
him,  been  offered  upon  the  Altar,  and  had  re? 


S4  The  Vision  of  [lec.  it. 

ascended  to  the  glory  which  he  had  with  the 
Father  before  the  world  was:  and  now  the 
divine  decrees  respecting  his  future  glory,  as 
the  Mediator  of  the  new  and  everlasting  cove- 
nant, and  as  the  Lord  and  Head  of  his  Church, 
wtre  to  be  delivered  with  public  solemnity  in- 
to  his  hands,  that  he  might  loose  the  seals,  and 
in  his  own  name  and  authority,  reveal  to  his 
servants  the  leading  features  of  his  holy  and 
glorious  providence,  determined  for  the  exe- 
cution  of  his  counsel  of  love. 

These  decrees  are  represented  as  contained 
in  a  Book,  that  seems  to  have  consisted  of 
seven  leaves,  or,  according  to  the  ancient  form 
of  books,  seven  rolls  of  skin  or  parchment, 
written  within,  and  on  the  backside  scaled 
with  seven  seals.  If  these  volumes  were  fas- 
tened together  at  one  end,  and  together  rolled 
up  into  the  form  in  which  such  volumes  were 
usually  kept,  the  seals  would  then  all  appear  on 
the  outside,  and  as  each  one  was  loosed,  the 
volume  it  sealed  might  be  opened,  and  its  con- 
tents displayed. 

To  loose  these  seals  was  the  prerogative  of 
"  the  Amen,  the  faithful  and  true  Witness." 
And  tiii  he  appeared,  '*  No  one  in  heaven, 


the  Sealed  Booh.  25 

nor  in  earth,  neither  under  the  earth,  was  able 
to  open  the  book,  neither  to  look  thereon." 

He  received  the  book  out  of  the  right  hand 
of  Him  that  sat  upon  the  throne  ;  and  as  he 
opened  the  several  seals,  and  displayed  the  vol- 
umes in  order,  there  appeared  emblems  sig- 
nificant of  the  progressive  discipline  and  effec- 
tual care  over  his  Church  and  people,  which  it 
had  been  determined  he  should  accomplish,  in 
seven  various  dispensations  of  his  providence 
toward  them,  in  succession  till  his  second  coming. 

When  he  had  opened  one  of  the  seals,  there 
appeared  "  a  white  horse  ;  and  he  that  sat  on 
him  had  a  bow  ;  and  a  crown  was  given  unto 
him ;  and  he  went  forth  conquering  and  to 
conquer.'* 

This  emblem  was  fully  explained,  by  that 
which  afterwards  was  witnessed  by  the  apostle, 
when,  as  is  recorded  in  the  19th  chapter,  he 
*'  saw  heaven  opened,  and  behold  a  white 
horse ;  and  he  that  sat  upon  him  was  called 
fathful  and  true  ;  and  in  righteousness  he  doth 
judge  and  make  war  ;  and  his  name  is  called 
the  Word  of  God,  and  he  hath  on  his  vesture 
and  on  his  thigh  a  name  written.  King  of 
kings,  and  Lord  of  lords."  This  could  be 
none  other  than  the  Lord  from  heaven,  come 
C 


S6  The  Vision  of  [lec.  n. 

forth  to  triumph  gloriously  over  his  enemies  in 
the  last  great  day  of  battle  and  of  victory.  So, 
in  this  place,  although  differing  in  some  cir- 
cumstances of  his  appearance,  according  to  the 
different  purposes  for  which  he  was  manifest- 
ed, it  is  the  same  Lord,  accompanied  by  the 
same  emblems  of  pure  and  holy  triumph. 

In  this  instance,  the  white  horse,  and  the 
bow,  and  the  crown,  and  the  progressive  vic- 
tory represent  him,  as  it  had  been  foretold  of 
him  in  the  45th  Psalm,  triumphing  by  the 
power  of  his  word  and  of  his  Spirit,  and  gath- 
ering, and  building  up  to  himself  a  kingdoms 
among  men. 

The  opening  of  this  seal,  therefore,  discloses 
the  sure  prospect  of  the  wide-spreading  of  the 
gospel,  and  of  its  blissful  and  holy  influence 
over  the  hearts  of  men  triumphing  against  all 
the  power  of  its  enemies. 

It  was  accomplished  in  the  early  success  of 
the  Gospel  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
Historians  relate  that  within  less  than  a  century 
after  the  exaltation  of  Christ,  all  the  known 
world  was  enlightened  by  the  Gospel ;  and 
pagan  oracles  were  silenced,  and  pagan  insti- 
tutions prostrated  before  its  power.  Th^ 
Apostle  had  already  witnessed  this  in  part  RCr 


the  Sealed  Book.  27 

tually  accomplished  in  his  own  time.  And 
here  it  was  represented  to  him  as  constituting 
the  first  and  leading  dispensation  of  that  glo- 
rious and  holy  providence,  which,  from  the 
counsels  of  the  divine  decrees,  was  now  to  be 
revealed  to  him  for  the  servants  of  the  L  ord. 

*'  And  when  he  had  opened  the  second  seal, 
there  went  out  another  horse  that  was  red  ;  and 
power  was  given  to  him  that  sat  thereon, 
to  take  peace  from  the  earth,  and  that  they 
should  kill  one  another  ;  and  there  was  given 
unto  him  a  great  sword." 

None  can  be  at  a  loss,  I  suppose,  to  under- 
stand the  general  import  and  significancy  of 
these  emblems. 

The  servants  of  Christ  are  here  forewarned, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  first  success  of  the 
Gospel,  and  its  glorious  progress,  there  would  yet 
be  a  great  trial,  and  severe  afflictions  to  be  en- 
dured. The  adversary  of  the  kingdom  in 
which  they  trusted,  would  not  quietly  yield  his 
dominion ;  and  the  Lord  would  suffer  him  to 
contend,  by  his  servants,  **  the  children  of  dis- 
obedience," with  blood,  and  great  slaughter. 
But,  in  the  end,  he  would,  in  his  supreme  pro- 
vidence, take  peace  from  the  earth,  and  they 
should  kill  and  destroy  one  another. 


28  The  Vision  of        [lec.  ii. 

The  opening  of  this  seal  discloses  to  view 
that  bloody  period,  in  which  the  Church  sufFered 
her  bitter  and  terrible  persecutions  ;  and  in  the 
close  of  which,  the  earth  was  deluged  with 
blood,  in  the  wars  the  heathen  waged  among 
themselves,  till  the  Roman  empire  was  settled 
in  peace  under  the  dominion  of  Constantine, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century.  Peace 
might  truly  be  said  to  be  taken  from  the  earth, 
when,  in  the  course  of  about  half  a  century, 
more  than  twenty  different  emperors  reigned, 
and  above  thirty  usurpers  contended  unsuc- 
cessfully for  the  crown. 

**  And  when  he  had  opened  the  third  seal-- 
I  beheld,  and  lo,  a  black  horse  ;  and  he  that 
sat  on  him  had  a  pair  of  balances  in  his  hand. 
And  I  heard  a  voice  in  the  midst  of  the  four 
living  creatures  say,  A  measure  of  wheat  for  a 
penny,  and  three  measures  of  barley  for  a  pen- 
ny ;  and  see  thou  hurt  not  the  oil  and  the  wine," 

This  opens  a  dark  dispensation.  The  black 
horse  seems  indicative  of  famine.  The  pro- 
phet Jeremiah,  in  his  Lamentations,  had  said, 
{Chap,  V.  10,)  "  Our  skin  was  black  like 
an  oven,  because  of  the  terrible  famine."  And 
the  measure  here  mentioned,  was  only  the  dai- 
ly allowance  for  a  labouring  man's  sustenance  : 


the  Sealed  Booh.  S9, 

and  the  piece  of  money  mentioned,  as  we  learn 
from  the  parable  of  the  labourers  in  the  vine- 
yard,  {Matthew  xx.  2,)  was  the  price  of  a  day's 
labour.  Provisions  for  the  support  of  life 
must  have  been  scarce  indeed,  when  a  labour- 
ing man  could  obtain  enough  only  for  his  own 
bread,  as  the  price  of  his  daily  labour. 

We  would  scarcely  expect,  however,  that 
any  actual  famine  recorded  in  history  would 
be  so  distinctly  noted,  and  classed  as  one  of 
tiie  seven  great  dispensations  of  Christ's  pro- 
vidence over  his  Church* 

But  we  read  in  the  Scriptures  of  a  famine 
of  another  kind — {Amos  viii.  11,)  "  Behold 
the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord  God,  that  I  will 
send  a  famine  in  the  land,  not  a  famine  of  bread, 
nor  a  thirst  for  water,  but  of  hearing  the  word 
of  the  Lord.  And  they  shall  wander  from  sea 
to  sea,  and  from  the  north  even  to  the  east  ; 
they  shall  run  to  and  fro  to  seek  the  word  dS 
the  Lord,  and  shall  not  find  it.  In  that  day 
shall  the  fair  virgins  and  the  young  men  faint 
for  thirst." 

When  the  bread  and  tlie  water  of  life  are 
kept  back  out  of  view,  and  neglected,  to  make 
way  for  human  inventions  and  apersticions.  or 
are  perverted  or  alloyed  by  the  profane  specu- 

€2 


89  The  Vision  of         [leg.  h. 

lations  of  a  vain  and  deceitful  philosophy, 
there  must  a  spiritual  famine  ensue  :  and  such 
a  famine,  thus  brought  on,  may  be  continued  in 
judgment.  When  the  children  of  Israel 
murmured  and  loathed  the  manna  from  heaven, 
God  "  gave  them  their  request,  but  sent  lean- 
ness into  their  souls."  And  when  Ephraim 
made  many  altars  to  sin,  the  righteous  judg- 
ment of  God  issued  **  Altars  shall  be  unto 
hini  to  sin." 

The  solid  instructions  of  the  Scriptures  had 
begun  to  evaporate  into  light  and  airy  visions, 
under  the  ministrations  of  philosophizing  teach- 
ers, before  the  time  of  Constantine  ;  and  mul- 
titudes of  the  nominal  Christians  were  pleased 
with  it  even  then.  But  when  the  Doctors  of 
the  Church  came  to  be  flattered  and  courted 
by  the  secular  power,  and  the  pressure  of  per- 
secution was  no  longer  felt,  the  word  of 
life  was  generally  neglected  for  human  institu- 
tions, and  the  fountains  of  truth  were  forsaken 
for  "  clouds  without  water." 

The  opening  of  this  seal  discloses  a  period 
of  spiritual  famine,  from  the  time  of  Constan- 
tine's  favor  to  the  Church,  till  the  desolations 
of  the  empire,  by  the  irruptions  of  the  Barba- 
rians.    A  period  in  which  the  Church  enjoys 


the  Sealed  Booh,  Bi 

the  advantage  of  civil  justice  and  equity  in  her 
favor,   represented,  perhaps,  by  the  balances 
in  the   hand  of  him  that  sat  upon  the  horse, 
yet,  in  her  spiritual  concerns,  is  characterized 
as  low  and  languishing,  through  the  scarcity 
of  the  ministrations   of  the  pure   bread   and 
water  of  life.     No  external  foe  is  suffered  to 
prevail  against  her :  the  spirit  of  grace  has  not 
yet  forsaken  her ;    nor  arc  his  unctions  with- 
held from  them  that  wait  for  them  ;    for   a 
command  accompanies  the  dispensation,  "  See 
thou  hurt   not  the  oil  and  the  wine."     The 
precious  ordinances  of  Christ  are  not  yet  so 
corrupted,   as   to   bring  on  spiritual    death. 
But  weighed  in  the  balances  of  the  sanctuary, 
she  is  found  wanting ;  and  a  universal  leanness 
and  famishing  prevails,  as  is  here  represented 
under  the  idea  of  a  scarcity  of  the  provisions 
necessary  to  support  life.     The  pulse  of  life 
still  continued  to  beat,  but  it  beat  feebly  :  and 
toward  the  close  of  the  period,  the  chills  of 
death  and  the  convulsions  of  expiring  life,  in- 
dicated a  speedy  extinction.     The  succeeding 
period  discovers  the  fatal  consequences. 

**  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fourth  seal— 
I  looked,  and  behold,  a  pale  horse  ;  and  his 
Rame  that  sat  on  him  was  Death,  and  hell  fol- 


sa  The  Vision  of         [lec.  ir. 

lowed  with  him  ;  and  power  was  given  unto 
them  over  the  fourth  part  of  the  earth,  to  kill 
with  sword,  and  with  hunger,  and  with  death, 
and  with  the  beasts  of  the  earth." 

Death,  as  a  terrific  conqueror,  is  here  reprc- 
sented  as  going  forth  to  execute  his  dread 
commission,  in  putting  an  end,  by  the  utter 
extinction  of  life,  to  that  languishing  condi- 
tion of  the  great  body  of  the  Church,  which 
was  disclosed  by  the  opening  of  the  former 
seal ;  and  hell  as  following,  in  concert  with 
him,  to  fix  the  seal  of  reprobation  on  the  apos- 
tate Church.  And  power  is  given  to  them 
over  that  whole  division,  or  quarter  of  the 
earth  where  the  Church  had  become  thus  apos- 
tate, to  put  an  end  to  life,  by  the  sword,  or 
power  of  the  secular  authority,  by  withholding 
or  perverting  the  bread  and  the  water  of  life, 
by  the  pestilence  of  fidse  doctrine,  and  by  the 
tyrannical  and  persecuting  beasts  of  the  earth. 

This  is  a  representation  of  that  long  and 
dreary  period  in  Church  history,  so  destitute 
of  the  light  of  life,  from  about  the  time  of  tlie 
barbarians  settling,  and  c^ti,blishing  kingdoms 
within  the  bounds  of  the  Roman  empiie,  till 
the  dawning  of  the  reformation.  It  is  a  long 
period ;  but  let  it  not  surprise  as,  if  we  find  U 


the  Sealed  Book*  33 

distinguished  by  but  few  prophetic  notes. — 
One  uniform  character  of  ghastly  Death  and 
Hell  triumphing,  marks  and  distinguishes  it 
from  beginning  to  end.  There  were  indeed  faint 
sparks  of  life  apparent  here  and  there.  But 
the  great  body  of  the  Church,  in  that  quarter  of 
the  world,  had  become  a  lifeless  and  putrid 
carcass  ;  and  Christ  had  rejected  it. 

"  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fifth  seal,  I 
saw  under  the  altar  the  souls  of  them  that  were 
alain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimo* 
ny  which  they  held. 

**  And  they  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying- 
How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou 
not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth  ? 

**  And  white  robes  were  given  unto  every  one 
of  them,  and  it  was  said  unto  them,  that  they 
should  rest  yet  for  a  little  season,  until  their 
fellow  servants  also,  and  their  brethren  that 
should  be  killed  as  they  were,  should  be  ful- 
filled." 

After  a  long  night  of  death,  the  opening  of 
this  seal  reveals  the  spirit  of  the  martyrs  of 
Jesus  revived,  and  the  true  spirit  of  prayer, 
founded  upon  the  promises  of  God,  renewed 
ia  them  that  groaned  under  the  oppression  n^ 


34  The  Vision  of         [lec.  ti. 

the  enemies  of  Christ,  and  waited  for  his  sal- 
vation. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Reformation, 
when  the  enormities  of  the  apostate  Church 
were  discovered  and  exposed,  it  was  natural 
for  the  impatience  of  men  to  expect,  that 
Christ  would  soon  judge  her,  and  avenge  the 
blood  of  his  martyrs.  And  when  they  found  his 
purpose  to  this  effect  declared  in  his  word,  they 
would  think  themselves  justified  in  expecting  it 
would  be  accomplished  without  delay.  They 
therefore  *' cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying- 
How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou 
not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth  ?'* 

Such  were  the  expectations,  and  such  the 
prayers  of  the  Reformers  and  their  successors, 
till  within  a  late  period.  Even  some  of  us 
here  now  can  remember,  when  scarcely  a  sin- 
gle  public  prayer  was  offered  to  God,  that  did 
not  contain  a  petition  for  the  destruction  of  the 
power  of  Antichrist.  But  God's  time  was  not 
yet  come  ;  and  the  faith  of  men  has  grown 
weary,  perhaps  just  when  God  is  beginning  to 
hasten  his  work,  "  that  that  day  may  come  up- 
on  them  unawares." — For  as  a  snare  shall  it 


the  Sealed  Book.  35 

come  on  all  them  that  dwell  on  the  face  of  the 
whole  earth." 

These  prayers  were  not  then  answered  in 
kind ;  but  they  who  offered  them  were  not  put 
by  without  an  answer  in  mercy,  "  White 
robes  were  given  to  every  one  of  them.'' 
They  were  supported  and  made  victorious 
against  the  adversary  ;  and  they  received 
each  a  personal  answer  to  his  prayer,  in  being 
clothed  with  the  robe  of  Christ's  righteousness. 
The  spirit  of  truth  taught  them  to  understand, 
and  to  apply  to  their  own  cases,  the  great  and 
good  doctrine,  which  had  been  long  exploded, 
of  pardon  and  of  jujstification  before  Gcd,  by 
the  sacrifice  and  the  righteousness  of  Christ. -*- 
It  was  the  revival  of  this  doctrine,  that  charac- 
terized and  distinguished  the  Reformation,  Jt 
comprises,  indeed,  the  substance,  and  is  the 
distingishing  theme  of  the  Gospel :  and  with- 
out it,  there  had  been  no  reformation  worthy 
the  notice  of  the  spirit  of  prophecy. 

They  were  also  instructed  that  they  must 
wait  a  Tittle  season,  till  the  list  of  Martyrs 
should  be  completed  ;  and  till  the  measure  of 
iniquity  of  their  enemies  should  be  filled  up, 
in  their  persevering,  against  light  and  know> 
ledge,  to   *'•  resist  the  truth*'  till  **  their  folly 


36  The  Vision  of  [lec.  ii. 

shall  be  manifest  unto  all,"  as  theirs  also  was, 
who  withstood  Moses,  that  future  generations 
may  learn  to  **  fear  the  Lord  and  his  goodness, 
in  the  latter  days." 

The  opening  of  the  next  seal  reveals  tlic 
righteous  judgments  of  Christ,  accomplished 
in  due  time,  upon  these  enemies  of  his  throne 
and  kingdom. 

"  And  I  beheld  when  he  had  opened  the 
^ixth  seal — and  lo,  there  was  a  great  earth- 
quake, and  the  sun  became  black  as  sackcloth 
of  hair,  and  the  moon  became  as  blood. 

**  And  the  stars  of  heaven  fell  unto  the  earth, 
even  as  a  fig-tree  casteth  her  untimely  figs, 
when  she  is  shaken  of  a  mighty  wind : 

"  And  the  heaven  departed  as  a  scroll  when 
it  is  rolled  together  ;  and  every  mountain  and 
island  were  moved  out  of  their  places  ; 

*'  And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great 
men,  and  the  rich  men,  and  the  chief  captains, 
and  the  mighty  men,  and  every  bond- man,  and 
every  free-man  hid  themselves  in  the  dens, 
and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains  ; 

*'  And  said  to  the  mountains  and  rocks,  Fall 
on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  him 
that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath 
of  the  Lamb ; 


the  Sealed  Book.  S? 

*'  For  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come ; 
and  who  shall  be  able  to  stand  ?" 

The  earthquake  or  concussion,  according  to 
that  explanation  by  the  Apostle,  {Heb.  xii. 
27,)  **signifieth  the  removing  of  those  things 
which  are  shaken."  The  sun  becoming  black, 
and  the  moon  as  blood,  and  the  stars  of  heaven 
falling  to  the  earth,  designate  the  shrouding  in 
darkness,  and  covering  with  blood,  and  casting 
down  from  their  high  places,  the  thrones  and 
dominions,  and  the  princes,  and  the  potentates 
of  the  earth.  And  the  departing  of  the  heav^ 
ens  as  a  scroll,  or  parchment,  when  it  is  rolled 
together,  and  the  removing  of  every  mountain, 
and  of  every  island,  out  of  their  places,  can 
signify  nothing  less  than  a  total  subversion, 
and  universal  sweeping  off  from  the  face 
of  the  earth,  all  those  human  establish* 
ments,  of  earthly  foundation,  whether  civil  or 
ecclesiastical,  which  have  been  in  any  way 
opposed  to  the  spirit  and  the  purity  of  Christ's 
Kingdom,  When  the  stone  cut  out  of  the 
mountain  without  hands,  shall  smite  the  great 
image  of  earthly  dominions  upon  his  feet,  then 
the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver  and  the 
gold,  shall  be  broken  to  pieces  together,  and 
become  like  the  chaff  of  the  summer  thresh- 

D 


33  The  Vision  of  [lec.  ii. 

ing-floors  ;  and  the  wind  shall  carry  them 
away,  that  no  place  shall  be  found  for  them  ; 
and  the  stone  shall  become  a  great  mountain, 
and  fill  the  whole  earth.  **  For,  behold,  the 
day  Cometh  that  shall  burn  as  an  oven  ;  and 
all  the  proud,  yea,  and  all  that  do  wickedly,  shall 
be  as  stubble  :  and  the  day  that  cometh 
shall  burn  them  up,  saiih  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
that  it  shall  leave  them  neither  root  nor 
branch.'* 

But  what,  I  think,  unequivocally  determines 
the  nature  of  the  events  here  revealed,  and  the 
order  and  period  of  time  in  which  they  shall 
be  accomplished,  is,  that  the  kings  of  the  earth, 
and  the  great  men,  and  all  descriptions  of  men 
universally,  shall  be  made  fully  conscious,  that 
the  great  day  of  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  is 
come  ;  and,  feeling  themselves  utterly  unable 
to  stand  before  him,  in  an  overwhelming  con- 
sciousness of  guilt  and  despair,  shall  **  hide 
themselves  in  the  dens  and  rocks  of  the  moun- 
tains, and  say  to  the  mountains  and  rocks.  Fall 
on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  Him  that 
sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the 
Lamb." 

I  know  not  on  what  principles,  or  with 
what  sentiments  of  piety,  this  can  be  applied 


the  Sealed  Book,  39 

to  any  thing  less,  than  that  last  great  display  of 
Christ's  power,  in  which  he  will  meet  and  de- 
stroy the  enemies  of  his  Kingdom,  and  over- 
turn every  foundation,  and  every  establishment, 
that  stands  in  the  way  of  his  universal  domino 
ion  in  the  hearts  of  men,  that  the  Lord  alone 
may  be  exalted  in  that  day. 

"  The  day  of  vengeance  is  in  his  heart,  for 
the  year  of  his  redeemed  is  come." 

The  execution  of  this  is,  probably,  now  al- 
ready begun  ;  but  the  dreadful  consummation 
is  yet  future. 

As  this  is  a  day  much  in  the  heart  of  the 
Lord  Christ,  we  shall  frequently  find  it  alluded 
to,  and  once,  at  least,  more  particularly  and 
emphatically  described  in  the  course  of  this 
Revelation,  given  us,  to  sheiv  unto  us  things 
that  must  shortly  come  to  pass. 

At  present,  another  great  and  interesting 
event  demands  our  attention  : — the  restoration 
of  the  Jews,  connected  with  the  coming  in  of 
the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles.  For  God,  ac- 
cording to  his  promise,  will  yet  gather  the 
out  casts  of  Israel  ;  and  he  will  also  gather 
others  with  him.  **  Blindness,  in  part,  is  hap- 
pened to  Israel,    until  the  fulness  of  the  Gen- 


4)0  The  Vision  of        [lec.  ii. 

tiles  be  come  in.     And  so  all  Israel  shall  be 
saved." 

The  whole  of  the  7th  chapter  is  occupied  ii^ 
detailing  this  event. 

While  the  last  indignation  is  aeeomplishing, 
there  shall  yet  be  a  delay  in  some  period  of 
that  time,  probably  just  before  the  final  con- 
summation, when  "  the  four  angels  standing 
on  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  shall  hold  the 
four  winds  of  the  earth,  that  the  wind  shall  not 
blow  on  the  earth,  nor  on  the  sea,  nor  on  any 
tree." — "And  another  angel  ascending  from  the 
cast" — perhaps  from  some  of  the  missionary  es- 
tablishments already  formed  there — "  having 
the  seal  of  the  living  God." — The  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  sealing  the  ministrations  of 
the  word  of  life,  shall  be  commissioned  to  seal 
the  servants  of  our  God  in  their  foreheads^ 
that  they  may  be  distinguished,  and  preserved 
safe  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's  vengeance. 

That  the  vision  in  the  7th  chapter  relates  to 
this  event,  cannot,  I  think,  be  doubted,  when 
its  coincidence  with  what  is  elsewhere  predict- 
ed in  the  scriptures,  of  this  great  event,  is  duly 
considered.. 

The  Apostle  heard  the  number  of  themi 
which  were  sealed — an  hundred  and  forty  and 


the  Sealed  Booh,  41 

four  thousand  of  all  the  tribes  of  the  children  of 
Israel.  And  that  there  might  be  no  room  left  for 
misapprehension  or  doubt,  the  twelve  tribes  are 
severally  named,  and  the  number  of  the  sealed 
of  each  tribe  distinctly  recorded.  And  after 
these,  a  great  multitude,  vi^hich  no  man  could 
number,  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  peo- 
ple, and  tongues. 

The  four  corners  of  the  earth,  imply  the 
whole  earth ;  and  this  gathering  of  the  dispers- 
ed of  Israel,  will  be  from  among  all  nations, 
whither  they  have  been  scattered.  The  count- 
less multitude,  that  the  Apostle  saw,  after  the 
sealing  of  these,  is  explicitly  stated  to  be  all 
nations,  and  kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues. 
But  I  have  not  time  in  this  Lecture  to  pursue 
the  subject  farther. 

"  And  when  he  had  opened  the  seventh  seal, 
there  was  silence  in  heaven  about  the  space  of 
half  an  hour." 

The  Revelation  included  under  this  seal  had 
been  in  some  measure  anticipated,  bv  the  re- 
presentation of  the  result  of  that  great  ingath- 
ering to  the  Church,  described  in  the  last 
chapter.  "  Therefore,  are  they  befoie  the 
throne  of  God.  and  serve  him  day  and  <nght  in 
his  temple  :    and  he  that  sittcth  on  the  throne 

D2 


4S  The  Vision  of         [lec.  ir. 

shall  dwell  among  them."  And  it  was  more 
distinctly  and  particularly  to  be  made  known, 
in  succeeding  appropriate  visions,  as  the  great 
result  and  crowning  dispensation  of  that  glori- 
ous and  holy  providence,  in  which  Christ  the 
Lord  conducts  his  Church  and  people  to  rest 
and  peace.  It  is  therefore  no  farther  signified, 
on  the  opening  of  the  seal,  but  by  that  solemn 
and  significant  attention,  and  reverend  regard 
which  were  expressed  by  a  silence  in  heaven, 
for  about  the  space  of  half  an  hour  ;  like  that 
enjoined  in  the  prophet  Habakkuk~*'The  Lord 
is  in  his  holy  temple  ;  let  all  the  earth  keep 
silence  before  him."  And  entirely  corres- 
ponding  to  that  in  Zechariah,  at  the  conclusion 
of  an  express  and  very  particular  prophecy  of 
the  very  same  event  as  immediately  precedes 
the  opening  of  this  seal — ^"  Be  silent,  O  all 
flesh,  before  the  Lord  ;  for  he  is  raised  up  out 
of  his  holy  habitation." 

I  cannot  suppose  that  this  silence  was  de- 
signed to  measure  a  precise  portion  of  time  in 
the  future  history  of  the  Church,  or  to  be  sym^ 
bolical  of  a  short  respite,  that  the  Church  should 
enjoy,  from  being  persecuted  and  afflicted  by 
her  adversaries* 


the  Sealed  Booh,  4B 

There  is  no  definite  period  here  mentioned, 
but  it  is  said  to  have  continued  for  about  half 
an  hour.  And  the  suspension  of  the  course 
of  the  prophetic  visions,  and  the  delay  of  the 
progress  of  the  revelation,  for  such  a  length  of 
time,  leaving  the  scenes  of  vision  unoccupied, 
would  seem,  as  a  symbol,  greatly  dispropor- 
tionate to  the  rest  of  the  representations  that 
passed  before  the  view,  or  came  under  the  ob- 
servation of  the  Apostle. 

If,  however,  it  must  be  considered  as  a 
symbol,  it  would  seem,  in  this  place,  most 
aptly  to  represent  that  state  of  rest  and  quiet, 
in  the  Church,  and  throughout  the  world,  that 
shall  obtain  under  the  peaceful  dispensation  of 
millennial  grace  and  glory. 


LECTURE  III. 


LE  CTURE  III. 


The  Sounding  of  the  Trumpets, 


REVELATION  viii.  2. 

"  And  I  saw  the  seven  angels  which  stood  before  God; 
and  to  them  zvere  given  seven  trumpets,^* 

JLT  was  the  high  prerogative  of  Jesus 
Christ,  to  open  the  seals  of  the  Divine  Decrees, 
and  '*  to  shew  unto  his  servants  things  that 
must  shortly  come  to  pass." — '*  No  one  in 
heaven,  nor  in  earth,  neither  under  the  earth, 
was  able  to  open  the  book,  neither  to  look 
thereon  ;"  till  the  Lamb  appeared,  and  '*  took 
the  book  out  of  the  right  hand  of  Him  that 
sat  upon  the  throne,"  In  his  distinctive  char- 
acter, as  the  Lamb  that  had  been  offered  in 
sacrifice  for  the  atonement  of  the  sins  of  his 
people,  but  now  exalted  to  the  right  hand  of 
the  Majesty  on  high,  he  appeared  in  the  midst 
of  the  throne,  and  of  the  surrounding  wor^ 


48  The  Sounding  of      [lec.  m, 

shippers,  and  in  due  order  opened  the  seals  of 
the  sacred  book. 

After  the  seals  were  thus  opened,  and  a  gen- 
eral view  of  the  contents  of  the  book  display- 
ed, in  the  great  outlines  and  leading  features 
of  that  holy  and  glorious  providence,  in  all  the 
several  dispensations  of  it,  which  he,  in  the 
wisdom  and  power  of  the  Godhead,  will  ac- 
complish for  his  Church  and  people  to  the 
end  of  time  :  Then  the  ministers  of  his  will 
were  employed  as  agents  to  signify  to  the 
Apostle,  in  more  particular  detail,  some  of  the 
principal  events  that  were  to  fill  up  the  general 
view.  These  events  are  all  comprised  in  the 
general  view  that  had  been  given  in  the  open- 
ing of  the  seals  of  the  book  by  the  Lamb 
himself,  and,  in  point  of  time,  must  coincide, 
each  with  some  portion  of  the  time  embraced 
by  one  or  more  of  the  seals.  1  know  not 
why  commentators  generally  have  agreed  to 
class  them  all  under  tlie  seventh  alone,  and  con- 
clude, that  only  a  small  portion  of  time,  and  a 
few  events,  and  these,  most  of  them,  compara- 
tively unimportant,  arc  disclosed  by  the  open- 
ing of  the  six  former  seals.  It  seems  to  me  a 
very  unnatural  arrangement,  and  by  no  means 
anaiagous  to  the  progress  and  nature  of  the 


the  Trumpets.  49 

visions  ;  and  I  think  it  makes  the  last  seal  a 
monster  in  hieroglyphics,  such  as  never  was 
elsewhere  witnessed.  I  do  not  recollect  to 
have  met  with  any  reasons  assigned  for  this 
arrangement,  but  what  may  be  reduced  to 
these  two — 1st,  The  very  worst  reason  that 
could  be  assigned,  and  yet  the  one  chiefly  reli- 
ed on, — that  such  an  arrangement  falls  in  with, 
and  accommodates  itself  to  the  scheme  of  in- 
terpretation,  which  the  commentator  has  adopt- 
ed. The  2d,  That  there  would  seem  an  ab- 
ruptness in  the  introduction  of  the  Vision  of 
the  Trumpets,  if  it  be  not  considered  as  flow- 
ing immediately  out  of  the  seventh  seal,  and 
being  an  exhibition  of  its  contents.  This,  if 
correct,  would  be  a  good  reason.  But  you  all 
know,  I  suppose,  that  the  division  of  the  book 
into  chapters,  is  not  of  divine,  nor  even  of 
apostolic  authority.  It  is  an  arrangement  of 
quite  recent  invention. 

If,  then,  the  first  verse  of  the  eighth  chapter 
stood  the  last  of  the  seventh,  and  the  text,  now 
placed  the  second  verse  of  the  eighth,  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  chapter  ;  would  there  seem 
an  abruptness  in  introducing  this  vision,  when 
there  had  been  first  an  interval  of  about  half  an 
hour  of  solemn  silence,  after  the  opening  of 
£ 


^0  The  Sounding  of      [lec.  hi. 

the  last  seal  of  the  former  vision  ?  For  we 
must  remember  that  this  interval  of  silence 
was  witnessed,  and  is  recorded  by  the  Apostle, 
as  actually  taking  place  in  heaven. 
.  So  solemn  and  awful  a  silence,  continued 
for  such  a  space  of  time,  would  hardly  seem 
appropriate  to  the  disclosing  of  the  vision  of 
the  trumpets,  as  a  display  of  the  contents  of 
the  seal  so  long  after  it  had  been  opened.  It 
would  seem  more  appropriate  to  the  completing 
that  general  view  of  things  to  come,  that  was 
to  be  conducted  and  made  by  the  Lamb  him- 
self, in  his  own  person  ;  and  to  his  retiring, 
amid  that  profound  adoration,  to  commission 
the  ministers  of  his  will  to  appear,  and  con- 
duct the  revelation  of  events  that  were  to  fill 
up  that  general  view.  And  when  it  is  consid- 
ered, that  the  revelation  included  under  the 
last  seal,  had  been,  as  was  entirely  suitable  to 
the  occasion  it  should  be,  in  some  measure  an- 
ticipated, by  a  representation  of  the  result 
of  the  great  ingathering  to  the  Church,  which 
is  described  in  the  seventh  chapter  ;  I  think  it 
not  reasonable  to  object,  that  the  contents  of 
the  seventh  seal  are  no  where  revealed,  unless 
in  the  vision  of  the  trumpets.  And  as  the 
contents  of  this  seal  were  to  be  nr.ore  distinct- 


the  Trumpets,  51 

ly  and  particularly  made  known  by  other  ap- 
propriate  visions,  as  the  great  result,  and  crown- 
ing dispensation,  of  that  holy  and  glorioiis 
providence,  by  which  Christ  will  conduct  his 
Church  and  people  to  settled  rest  and  peace  in 
due  time  ;  I  think  it  not  unreasonable  to  ex- 
pect, that  it  shall  be  no  farther  signified,  on  the 
opening  of  the  seal,  than  by  that  solemn  atten- 
tion, and  reverend  regard,  implied  in  the  awful 
silence  with  which  it  becomes  ail  creatures  to 
receive  and  subnit  to  the  intimations  of  the 
purport  o^  the  divine  decrees.  In  very  much 
the  same  manner,  the  events  under  the  seventh 
trumpet  are  also  noticed  only  in  a  very  general 
view  of  the  consequences,  while  the  woe  an- 
nounced by  the  trumpet,  is  left  to  be  described 
in  another  vision. 

When,  therefore,  that  expression  of  rever- 
ence, at  the  finishing  of  the  opening  of  the  seals, 
was  ended,  a  new  vision  was  presented  to  the 
view  of  the  Apostle — 

"  And  I  saw  the  seven  angels  which  stood 
before  God ;  and  to  them  were  given  seven 
trumpets/' 

To  these  angels,  who  are  here  emphatically 
distiiignished,  as  the  seven  angels  that  stood 
before  God,  it  was   committed   to   announce 


^^ 


Tke  Sounding  of      [lec.  in. 


certain  interesting  events,  concerning  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  the  world,  by  sounding 
each  his  trumpet  that  was  given  to  him  for  this 
purpose.  The  trumpet  was  anciently  used  for 
various  purposes  of  public  interest ;  but  chief- 
ly, and  perhaps  originally,  to  sound  the  alarm 
tf  war,  or  of  impending  danger. 

When  the  means  of  intercourse  between  the 
nations  and  tribes  of  men  were  much  fewer 
than  at  present,  the  first  intimation  of  a  hostile 
invasion  would  often  be,  the  enemy  presenting 
themselves  before  the  gates  of  the  city,  or  in 
the  midst  of  the  invaded  territory.  It  was 
then  the  business  of  the  watchmen  to  sound 
the  trumpet  of  alarm.  The  prophet  Amos 
alludes  to  this,  when  he  says,  (iii,  6,)  **  Shall  a 
trumpet  be  blown  in  the  city,  and  the  people 
not  be  afraid  V  The  assailants  also  gave  the 
signal  of  onset  to  their  hosts  by  the  same 
means.  In  allusion  to  this,  the  prophet  Zecha- 
riah,  describing  a  day  of  God's  wrath,  (i.  16,) 
calls  it  *'  A  day  of  the  trumpet,  and  alarm 
iigainst  the  fenced  cities,  and  against  the  high 
tov/crs."  But  what  the  Apostle  witnessed,  as 
immediately  preparatory  to  the  sounding  of 
these  trumpets,  will  best  explain  their  sig- 
nificancy  in  this  place. 


the  Trumpets.  53 

When  the  trumpets  had  been  given  into  the 
hands  of  the  angels,  "  another  angel  came  and 
stood  at  the  altar,  having  a  golden  censer ; 
and  there  was  given  unto  him  much  incense, 
that  he  should  offer  it  with  the  prayers  of  all 
saints  upon  the  golden  altar  which  was  before 
the  throne. 

**  And  the  smoke  of  the  incense,  which  came 
with  the  prayers  of  the  sair.ts,  ascended  up  be* 
fore  God  out  of  the  angePs  hand. 

**  And  the  angel  took  the  censer,  and  filled 
it  with  fire  of  the  altar,  and  cast  it  into  the 
earth  ;  and  there  were  voices,  and  thunderings, 
and  lightnings,  and  an  earthquake. 

"  And  the  seven  angels  which  had  the  seven 
trumpets,  prepared  themselves  to  sound  " 

The  taking  of  fire  from  the  altar,  and  cast- 
ins^  it  into  the  earth,  with  the  consequent 
voices,  and  thup.derings,  and  lightnings,  and 
an  earthquake,  denotes  indignation  and  wrath, 
to  be  executed  on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  : 
and  this  token,  following  immediately  upon  the 
smoke  of  the  incense,  with  the  prayers  (  f  'he 
saints  ascending  up  before  God,  inclicatrs  this 
indignanon  and  wrath  to  be  directed  against 
the  oporfssors  of  Christ's  praying  ijeoplsy 
But  inasmuch  as  the  fire  was  taken  froiu  ihe 
e2 


5%  The  Sounding  of       [leg.  hi. 

altar  which  was  before  the  throne,  it  would 
seem  that  the  indignation  was  to  be  accom- 
plished on  a  people  professing  to  be  the  Lord's  : 
as  when  coals  of  fire  were  to  be  scattered  upon 
Jerusalem,  to  denote  the  wrath  that  should  be 
executed  upon  the  city  called  by  the  name  of 
the  Lord,  the  fire  was  taken  from  between  the 
cherubims,  and  the  execution  of  judgment 
began  at  the  sanctuary. 

From  these  circumstances,  therefore,  I  con- 
clude, that  the  seven  trumpets  are  sounded, 
and  the  judgments  they  announce  are  ex- 
ecuted, within  the  period  of  time  when  vio* 
lence  and  oppression  prevail  in  the  Church, 
and  there  is  exhibited  that  unnatural  and 
shocking  spectacle,  of  men  professing  the 
benevolent  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  yet  aiRicting 
and  oppressing,  and  persecuting  fellow-Chris* 
tians.  And  as  tliis  spirit  did  not  prevail  in  the 
Church,  till  after  the  Roman  empire  came  to 
be  denominated  Christian,  and  professing 
Christians  gloried  in  indentifying  the  empire 
with  the  church,  and  this  evil  spirit  seems  to 
have  been  generated  by  that  connexion,  and  was 
certainly  cherished  and  fostered  by  it ;  I  conclude, 
also,  that  the  empire  itself,  in  this  connexion, 
must  be  in  some  measure  a  specific  object  of 


the  Trumpets,  55 

the  divine  displeasure  and  wrath  announced  b}^ 
the  trumpets. 

But  the  last  three  of  these  trumpets  are  em- 
phatically distinguished  as  trumpets  of  woe. 
This  term  implies  the  idea  of  a  curse,  and  distin- 
guishes them  from  those  trumpets  that  an. 
nounce  judgments  that  are  sent  for  correction, 
while  there  is  yet  left  a  hope  of  repentance  and 
reformation  ;  and  indicates  that  these,  so  dis- 
tinguished, are  signals  of  judgment  without 
mercy. 

I  suppose,  therefore,  that  the  first  four  trum- 
pets,  are  the  signals  of  so  many  special  judg- 
ments intended  for  correction  as  well  as 
expressions  of  displeasure,  and  sent  upon  the 
professing  people  of  God,  the  great  body  of 
the  visible  Church,  before  it  had  become  en- 
tirely apostate,  and  therefore,  rejected  of 
Christ  ;  and  that  the  trumpets  of  woe  are 
signals  of  the  special  curses  in  judgment 
without  mercy,  to  be  executed  upon  the  apos- 
tate Church  in  its  connexion  with  the  empire, 
after  being  rejected  of  the  Lord. 

On  these  principles,  we  would  expect  the 
four  former  to  be  of  short  continuance,  and 
the  three  latter  of  much  longer  duration.  And 
we  would  look  for  the  four  former  to  be  exe- 


53  The  Soundiii^  of       [lec.  iii. 

GUted  as  tokens  of  displeasure,  and  intended 
for  correction  and  warning  upon  the  Church, 
in  that  sickly  and  lan^^uishing  condition  in 
which  it  ijppeared  under  the  third  seal  :  and 
the  three  latter  to  be  executed  upon  the  nom- 
inal Church  in  herapostacy,  under  some  of  the 
following  seals  :  Two  of  them,  I  suppose, 
were  executed  under  the  fourth  seal,  and  the 
last  coincides  with  the  sixth  seal. 

After  these  general  observations  on  the  nature 
and  the  design  of  these  judgments,  predicted 
under  the  sounding  of  the  seven  trumpets,  I 
shall  not  detain  you  long  to  hear  a  very  par- 
ticular account  of  the  accomplishment  of  each 
of  them. 

Commentators  are,  generally,  nearly  agreed 
on  this  subject  ;  and  1  see  no  reason  to  doubt 
their  correctness. 

**  The  first  angel  sounded,  and  there  follow- 
ed hail  and  fire  mingled  with  blood,  and  they 
AVere  cast  upon  the  earth  ;  and  the  third  part  of 
trees  were  burnt  up,  and  all  green  grass  was 
burnt  up.'* 

When  the  Roman  empire  became  Christian, 
and  the  way  to  honour  and  preferment  lay 
through  the  Church,  its  coiuxms  ^Vould  often 
come  under  the  direction  and  management  of 


the  Trumpets.  57 

worldly  minded  men,  and  the  humble  pious 
often  be  afflicted  and  oppressed.  According- 
ly, the  disposition  to  depart  from  the  simplici- 
ty of  the  Gospel,  and  from  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  which  began  to  manifest  itself  soon  after 
the  favour  shown  the  Christian  Church  by  Con- 
stantine,  continued  to  increase,  and  had  pro- 
ceeded to  alarming  lengths,  notwithstanding 
the  efforts  and  the  prayers  of  the  pious  to  pre- 
vent it,  when  the  Lord  sent  his  scourge  upon 
the  Church,  first  by  Julian  the  apostate,  and 
afterwards,  upon  the  Church  and  the  empire 
more  eminently,  by  the  invasions  of  the  barba- 
rian nations  ;  particularly  the  Goths,  under 
their  famous  leader  Alaric,  about  the  close  of 
the  fourth  century. 

From  the  cold  regions  of  the  north,  they 
came  like  a  storm  of  hail  upon  the  empire,  and 
their  progress  was  marked  in  all  their  way  by 
fire  and  blood.  The  trees  and  the  green  grass, 
the  glory  and  the  beauty  of  the  land,  were 
consumed  by  their  fire.  Neither  old  age  nor 
infancy  obtained  the  respect,  or  moved  the 
pity  of  the  barbarians  ;  and  the  temple  and 
the  dwelling  were  consumed  to  ashes  by 
their  fire. 


58  The  Sounding  of       [leg.  hi. 

An  historian  of  those  times  535^5,  **  The 
sword  of  the  barbarians  destroyed  a  very  great 
muhitude  of  men  ;  and  among  other  calami- 
ties, dry  heats,  with  flashes  of  flame  and  whirl- 
winds of  fire,  occasioned  various  and  intolerable 
terrors  ;  yea,  and  hail  greater  than  could  be 
held  in  a  man's  hand  fell  down  in  several 
places,  vveighinp^  as  much  as  eight  pounds.'* 

The  barbarians,  though  they  knew  it  not, 
had  their  commission  from  on  high  ;  and  a 
ponion  of  the  stores  of  vengeance  reserved 
there,  coming  down  at  the  same  time  upon 
them,  should  have  warned  the  Christian  world, 
that,  in  all  these,  the  Lord  contended  agairst 
them,  and  rebuked  them  for  their  sins.  But 
they  repented  not ;  and,  after  a  little  interval 
to  prove  them,  the  second  alarm  of  judgment 
was  sounded, 

**  And  the  second  angel  sounded,  and  as  it 
were,  a  great  mountain  burning  with  fire  was 
cast  into  the  sea  ;  and  the  third  part  of  the 
sea  became  blood  : 

*'  And  the  third  part  of  the  creatures  which 
were  in  the  sea,  and  had  life,  dird  ;  and  a 
third  part  of  the  ships  were  dc  stroyed." 

A  f^rent  mountain  buffioi^  with  fire,  aptly 
represents  a  powerful  barbarous  nation,    unre- 


the  Trumpets,  59 

strained  by  principle  or  law,  and  raging  with 
thirst  of  devastation  and  plunder.  Such  were 
the  barbarian  Huns,  when,  under  their  king 
Attila,  to  the  amount  of  seven  hundred  thou- 
sand, they,  a  liltle  before  the  middle  of  the 
fifth  century,  came  with  violence  upon  the 
Christian  world,  and  invaded  the  Roman  em- 
pire from  one  end  to  the  other  ;  while  the  em- 
pire, represented  as  the  sea,  was  in  that  loose, 
unsetded,  and  agitated  state,  which  former  in- 
vasions of  the  barbarians,  and  their  own  way- 
Ward  policy  had  occarsioned.  These  not  only 
invaded  the  empire,  and  destroyed  some  of  the 
fairest  portioiis  of  it,  as  had  been  done  by  the 
Goths  under  the  first  trumpet;  but,  says  the 
historian,  *'  The  whole  breadth  of  Europe,  as 
it  extends  above  five  hundred  miles  from  the 
Euxine  to  the  Adriatic,  was  at  once  invaded, 
and  occupied,  and  desolated  by  the  myriads  of 
barbarians  whom  Aitila  led  into  the  field — 
words  the  most  expressive  of  total  extirpation 
and  erasure  are  applied  to  the  calamities  which 
they  inflicted  on  seventy  cities."  Attila  him- 
self boasted,  that  he  was  *'  the  scourge  of  God, 
a.id  the  terror  of  men.'*  The  very  language 
of  this  boasting  should  have  been  enough  to 
awaken  the  consciences  of  even  the  most  stu- 


60  The  Sounding  of       [lec.  hi. 

pid  among  the  professing  Christians  of  that 
day,  to  "  remember  from  whence  they  had 
fallen,  and  repent."  This  scourge  was  not, 
like  the  former,  a  sudden  irruption  of  a 
merciless  barbarian  foe,  who,  when  he  had 
done  his  work  of  blood  and  of  burning,  again 
soon  retired.  These  were  permitted  to  hold  a 
dominion  of  terror  in  the  midst  of  the  Chris- 
tian world,  and  for  fourteen  years,  says  the  his- 
torian, *'  shook  the  east  and  the  west  with  most 
cruel  fear,  and  deformed  the  provinces  of  each 
empire  with  all  kind  of  plundering,  slaughter, 
and  burning." 

It  was  indeed  a  dreadful  scourge  for  pa- 
ternal love  and  faithfulness  to  inflict  :  but  the 
corruption  and  degeneracy  of  the  times,  evi- 
dently required  it.  It  was  sanctified  to  many 
individuals,  and  they  suffered  in  faith,  and  died 
in  triumph.  In  the  great  body  of  the  Church, 
however,  throughout  the  empire,  no  reforma- 
tion was  effected  :  and  a  scourge  on  somewhat 
different  principles  was  speedily  after  applied. 

*'  And  the  third  angel  sounded,  and  there 
fell  a  great  star  from  heaven,  burning  as  it  were 
a  lamp,  and  it  fell  upon  the  third  part  of  the 
river^  and  upon  the  fountains  of  waters  ; 


the  Trumpets,  61 

^*  And  the  name  of  the  star  is  called  Worm- 
wood ;  and  the  third  part  of  the  waters  became 
wormwood ;  and  many  men  died  of  the  waters, 
because  they  were  made  bitter." 

The  barbarians  who  so  long,  and  so  dread- 
fully scourged  the  Christian  world  ;  yet  pro- 
fessed, many  of  them,  to  adopt  the  Christian 
religion.  That  form  of  it  which  they  adopted, 
as  being  more  congenial  to  their  savage  and 
unsanctified  tempers,  was  what  was  called  the 
Arian  ;  distinguished  particularly,  as  disallow- 
ing the  proper  Deity  of  Christ,  and  consisting 
chiefly  in  those  philosophizing  notions  of  re- 
ligion, which  unsanctified  reason  is  ever  dis- 
posed to  confound  with  the  pure  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel.  This  heresy,  long  btfore  invented,  and 
propagated  and  resisted,  many  times  by  very  un- 
christian  means,  at  length  provided  the  means  of 
a  scourge  upon  the  Christian  world,  from  with- 
in itself,  and  suited  in  kind,  to  the  very  crimes, 
and  to  that  spirit  of  apostacy,  by  which  they 
had  so  far  departed  from  the  simplicity  of  the 
Gospel,  and  from  the  true  nature  of  the  religion 
and  kingdom  of  Christ.  The  spirit  of  dom- 
inancy,  as  "  being  lords  over  God's  heritage," 
and  of  usurpation  upon  the  sacred  rights  of 
conscience,  using  coercive  measures  to  propa- 

F 


6^  The  Sounding  of       [lec.  m. 

gate  religious  opinions,  had  greatly  increased 
in  the  church,  and  beconrie  leading  features  in 
the  character  of  apostacy,  which  the  Christian 
world  was  then  fast  assuming.  To  rebuke 
and  chastise  them  for  this,  the  Lord  suffered 
the  Arian  princes,  with  their  barbarians,  to  ex* 
ercise  a  discipline,  and  hold  a  rod  of  terror 
over  them  on  like  principles.  Partii  ularly, 
Genseric,  the  king  of  the  Vandals,  who  sub? 
dued  Africa,  in  the  former  part  of  the  fifth 
century,  not  only  over  the  African  Churches, 
but  at  Rome  itself,  and  throughout  a  great  part 
of  the  empire,  exercised  the  most  despotic 
power  and  brutal  force,  to  resist  every  thing 
unfavorable  to  Arian  sentiments.  And  as  the 
nature  of  his  purpose  seemed  to  demand,  his 
vengeance  fell  heaviest  on  the  ministers  and 
teachers  of  the  Church,  who  were  constrahied 
to  embrace  and  teach  Arian  sentiments,  or 
they  must  feel  the  tyrant's  power.  Thus  were 
the  rivers  and  fountains  of  waters  made  bitter, 
wherever  the  baneful  influence  of  this  apostate 
star  extended.  This,  in  the  superintending 
providence  of  the  Lord,  was  visiting  their  own 
iniquities  upon  them,  and  answering  the  cries 
of  the  oppressed,  in  which  they  cried  unto  God 
against  them.     Before  the  barbarians  subdue^ 


the  Trumpets,  63 

Carthage,  the  capital  of  the  empire  in  Africa, 
the  historian  tells  us,  "  Oppression  and  cru- 
elty domineered  at  Carthage  ;  and  the  poor  of 
the  place,  in  the  anguish  of  their  misery,  were 
induced  to  beseech  God  to  deliver  the  city  to 
the  barbarians." 

In  455,  Genseric  carried  his  terrors  into 
Europe,  and  invading  Rome,  with  an  army  of 
three  hundred  thousand  men,  took  it,  and  gave 
it  up  to  the  pillage  and  rapine  of  his  brutal 
soldiery,  for  fourteen  days  together.  Every 
where,  he  persecuted  those  that  called  them- 
selves the  orthodox  Christians,  His  son  and 
successor,  Huneric,  and  the  barbarian  princes 
generally,  seem,  for  a  long  time,  to  have  fol- 
lowed up  his  example.  **  Thus,"  says  the  pi- 
ous historian,  "  the  wrath  of  God  was  evidently 
poured  out  on  the  Churches  for  mercies  long 
abused."  But,  he  adds,  *' There  were  those, 
who,  by  the  principles  of  divine  grace,  were 
enabled  in  patience  to  possess  their  souls,  and 
to  evidence  that  the  real  Church  was  far  from 
being  extinguished."  The  Church  was  there- 
fore suffered  for  a  season  longer,  and  space 
given  for  repentance.  "  But  she  repented 
not."  And  before  the  close  of  the  century, 
the  fourth  signal  announced  another  vistation 


C4  The  Soiinding  of       [lec.  iu^ 

of  judgment — the  last  for  correction  :  and  her 
external  glory,  as  connected  with  the  empire, 
was  eclipsed,  and  the  lights  in  which  she  trust- 
ed, were  put  out. 

*'  And  the  fourth  angel  sounded,  and  the 
third  part  of  the  sun  was  smitten,  and  the  third 
part  of  the  moon,  and  the  third  part  of  the 
stars  ;  so  as  the  third  part  of  them  was  dark- 
ened, and  the  day  shone  not  for  a  third  part  of 
it,  and  the  night  likewise." 

The  Church,  grown  vain  and  insolent  in  her 
spirit  and  in  her  policy,  by  her  connexion  with 
the  Roman  empire,  is  under  this  dispensation 
of  judgment,  proved  by  her  last  chastisement, 
in  the  subversion  of  that  earthly  empire  in 
which  she  trusted. 

**  Genseric  left  the  western  Roman  empire  in 
a  weak  and  desperate  condition*  It  struggled 
hard,  and  gasped,  as  it  were  for  breath,  through 
eight  short  and  turbulent  reigns,  for  the  space 
of  twenty  years,  and  at  length  expired  in  476, 
under  Momylus,  the  last  emperor  of  the  West." 
The  senate  and  consuls  were  still  continued 
for  some  time  longer;  but  the  very  name  of 
the  western  empire  was  put  out,  and  the  con- 
queror took  on  him  the  title  of  King  of  Italy, 


the  Trumpets,  65 

Between  this  time,  and  the  sounding  of  the 
next  trumpet,  I  suppose,  it  was  that  the  true 
Church  retired  to  the  wilderness — The  wit- 
nesses began  to  prophecy  in  sackcloth — The 
nominal  Church  was  rejected  as  apostate — And 
the  beast  arose  out  of  the  sea. 

The  succeeding  judgments  partake  of  a  dif- 
ferent nature,  and  are  designed  to  restrain  the 
power,  and  to  curb  the  insolence  of  the  apos- 
tate Church,  now  become  worldly  in  all  her 
policy,  and  ambitious  only  to  be  distinguished 
among  the  kingdoms  of  this  world. 

These  judgments  are,  accordingly  proclaim- 
ed on  these  principles,  by  "  An  angel  flying 
through  the  midst  of  heaven,  saying  with  a 
loud  voice,  Woe,  woe,  woe  to  the  inhabiters 
of  the  earth,  by  reason  of  the  other  voices  of 
the  trumpet  of  the  three  angels  which  are  yet 
to  sound.*' 

"  And  the  fifth  angel  sounded,  and  I  saw  a 
star  fall  from  heaven  unto  the  earth  ;  and  to 
him  was  given  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit.*' 

Concerning  the  accomplishing  of  this,  and 
the  following  woe,  there  has  been  very  iitde 
difference  of  opinion  among  commentators  for 
a  long  lime  past. 

t2 


(56  The  Sounding  of      [lec.  in. 

This  trumpet  announces  the  woe  inflicted  by 
the  Mahomedan  power,  from  about  the  year  612 
to  762 — a  period  of  time  answering  to  the  season 
of  the  continuance  of  the  locusts,  by  which  they 
are  represented  ;  and  in  prophetic  language  five 
months,  counting  a  day  for  a  year.  At  the 
expiration  of  this  time,  the  caliph  Almansor 
built  the  city  of  Bagdad,  and  called  it  **  the 
city  of  peace."  A  stop  was  then  put  to  the  > 
devastations  of  these  locusts.  The  Saracen 
empire  continued  for  a  longer  time  ;  but  after 
this  period,  it  retained  no  longer  the  disorderly 
locust- character,  and  became  a  more  settled 
kingdom.  During  the  five  months,  or  150 
years  of  their  commission,  the  Mahomedan 
Saracens  were  a  continual  scourge  to  the  Chris- 
tian world,  and  hindered  the  ambition,  and 
abased  the  worldly  glory  of  the  apostate 
Church.  I  will  not  detain  you  to  hear  a  more 
particular  account  of  the  accomplishing  of  this 
woe  ;  as  you  may  find  it  satisfactorily  detailed 
in  almost  any  of  the  late  commentators  ;  and 
particularly  in  Dr.  Scott's,  and  Bishop  New- 
ton's. 

The  star,  however,  that  the  apostle  saw,  **  that 
had  fallen  from  heaven  unto  the  earth,"  (for  so 
the  original  is  literally  translated,)  was  not,  I 


the  Trumpets.  67 

presume,  Mahomed  and  his  successors — They 
were  the  kings  of  the  locusts,  and  the  angel,  or 
agent  of  the  bottomless  pit.  But  the  fallen 
star,  was  either  the  great  apostate  angel,  of 
whom  Christ  said,  "  I  saw  Satan  fall  like  light- 
ning from  heaven,"  and  to  whom  Isaiah  likens 
the  king  of  Babylon,  under  the  name  of"  Lu* 
cifer,  son  of  the  morning,"  or  it  was  some 
apostate  minister  of  the  Church,  employed  as 
the  agent  of  Satan  in  this  infernal  business." 

When  this  woe  was  accomplished,  there  was 
allowed  a  little  season  of  relief  from  external 
pressure,  and  the  apostate  Church  began  again 
to  aspire,  with  new  hope,  toward  universal 
domination,  and  the  crusades  called  forth  all 
her  ambition. 

But  the  "  sixth  angel  sounded,  and  I  heard 
a  voice  from  the  four  horns  of  the  golden  altar 
which  is  before  God, 

"  Saying  to  the  sixth  angel  which  had  the 
trumpet,  Loose  the  four  angels  which  are 
bound  in  the  great  river  Euphrates." 

This  voice,  proceeding  from  the  four  horns 
of  the  golden  altar,  seems  to  indicate  a  univer- 
sal  displeasure  with  the  whole  apostate  Church, 
against  which  the  woe  is  denounced,  in  all  its 
polity  and  leading  principles  :  and  accordingly 


68  The  Sounding  of       [lec.  hi. 

the  scourge,  which  the  Lord  in  his  providence 
had  prepared,  by    the    four   suitaiiies   of  the 
Turks,  or  Oihmans,  upon  the  borders  of  the 
river  Euphrates,  was  let  loose  upon  them,  for 
the  space  of  391  days  or  years  ;  from  1281  to 
1672.     The   Othman   or  Turkish  empire  still 
subsists  to  this  day,   and  probably  will  contin- 
ue, till  the  sixth  angel  shall  pour  out  his  vial  of 
the  wrath  of  God  on  the  great  river  Euphrates. 
But  it  has  been  gradually  decaying  in  power 
and  glory,  since  the  close  of  the  period  assigned 
for  it  to  be  the  scourge  of  an  apostate  Church 
and  people.     During  the  whole  of  that  period, 
however,  it  flourished,  and  was  successful  as  a 
terrible    and  long   protracted    scourge.     Yet, 
notwithstanding  the  severity  and  long  continu- 
ance of  this  scourging,  and  the  multitudes  of 
men  that   perished  by  it,    "  The  rest  of  the 
men  that  were  not  killed  by  these  plagues,  yet 
repented  not  of  the  works  of  their  hands,  that 
they  should  not  worship  devils,  and  idols  of 
gold,  and  silver,  and  brass,  and  stone,  and  of 
wood  ;  which  neither  can  hear,  nor  see,  nor 
walk  ;  neither  repented  they  of  their  murders, 
nor  of  their  sorceries,  uor  of  their  fornication, 
nor  of  their  thefts, '* 


the  Trumpels.  6^ 

A  dreadful  assemblage  of  the  most  pre- 
sumptuous and  the  most  detestable  crimes  of 
the  heathen  idolaters,  is  here  laid  in  charge 
against  an  idolatrous  and  apostate  Church,  for 
whose  judgment  the  last  exterminating  woe  is 
next  to  be  announced,  by  the  sounding  of  the 
seventh  trumpet. 

But,  before  the  signal  of  extermination  is 
given,  the  spirit  of  prophecy  turns  to  enquire 
after  the  true  Church  of  God,  the  faithful 
among  the  children  of  men.  The  community 
that  is  to  be  destroyed,  bears  the  Christian 
name — possesses  the  Scriptures  of  truth,  and 
boasts  a  direct  and  regular  descent  from  the 
Church  gathered  and  organized  by  the  apostles, 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Is  the 
Christian  name  then  to  become  extinct  ?  No. 
The  gates  of  hell  shall  never  prevail  against  the 
true  Church  of  Christ.  But,  for  the  space  of 
1260  years,  he  suffers  the  name  to  be  assumed 
by  apostates,  till  they  shall  have  filled  the  mea- 
sure of  their  iniquities,  that  he  may  shew  his 
wrath,  and  make  his  power  known  on  the  ves- 
sels of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction.  And  that 
he  may  make  known  the  riches  of  his  glory,  on 
the  vessels  of  mercy,  which  he  had  afore  pre- 
pared unto  glory.     In  the  mean  time,  however, 


yd  The  Sounding  of       [leg.  itt. 

he  acknowledges,  and  seals  by  his  spirit,  and 
watches  over,  and  preserves  a  seed  to  serve 
him.  And  there  is  here  introduced,  before 
the  sounding  of  the  last  trumpet,  a  succinct 
view  of  his  holy  providence  over  his  true  fol. 
lowers,  during  that  whole  space  of  time,  under 
the  idea  of  a  distinct  and  separate  record,  in  a 
little  book  especially  designed  for  that  pur- 
pose.  But  this,  as  it  is  a  distinct  and  separate 
vision  of  the  revelation,  must  be  the  subject  of 
more  particular  consideration,  than  we  have 
now  time  to  bestow  upon  it. 

The  vision  of  the  trumpets  is  again  resumed 
in  the  fourteenth  verse  of  the  llth  chapter. — 
"  The  second  woe  is  past ;  and,  behold,  the 
third  woe  cometh  quickly* 

*'  And  the  seventh  angel  sounded  ;  and  there 
Were  great  voices  in  heaven,  saying)  The  king- 
doms of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms 
of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ ;  and  he  shall 
reign  forever  and  ever." 

The  woe  announced  by  this  trumpet,  is  not 
here  particularly  described  :  but  the  hallelujah 
of  voices  ascribes  righteousness  tJ  God,  and 
celebrates  the  glorious  victory  and  triumph  of 
Christ  over  the    enemies  of  his    throne   and 


the  Trumpets,  74 

kingdom,  and  the  consequent  conversion  of 
the  nations  of  men  to  the  Lord. 

In  all  this,  the  accomplishing  of  the  last  woe 
is  implied :  and  in  the  last  verse  of  ihe  chap- 
ter some  general  view  of  its  nature  seems  to 
be  given.  During  the  Vision  of  the  little 
Book,  when  the  angel  came  down  from  heaven, 
and  set  his  righl  foot  upon  the  sea,  and  his  lefc 
foot  on  the  earth,  the  scene  of  virion  was 
changed,  and  the  temple  of  God  in  heaven, 
in  which  had  been  the  scene  of  the  former 
visions,  appears  to  have  been  closed.  But  up- 
on the  .bounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  *'  The 
temple  of  God  was  opened  in  htaven,  and 
there  was  seen  in  his  temple,  the  ark  of  his 
testament  ;  and  there  were  lightnings,  and 
voices,  and  thunderingb,  and  an  earthquake, 
and  great  hail.'* 

It  is,  I  suppose,  to  be  reckoned  the  con- 
cluding scene  of  that  dispensation  of  divine 
providence,  that  was  revealed  b}  the  opening 
of  the  sixth  seal  ;  and  is  mo'-e  full)  shovvn  in 
succeeding  visions.  What  the  angel  said,  *'  In 
the  dd)s  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel, 
when  he  shall  begin  to  sound,  the  myster)'  of 
God  shall  be  finished,"  seems  to  injpl)',  that 
ft   will    be   the    cpncluding   dispensation  of 


72         The  Soumlins;  of  &c.     [lec.  hi. 

judgment,  by  which  Christ  will  finish  the 
mystery  of  his  holy  providence  over  his 
Church,  as  he  hath  promised  to  his  servants  ; 
and  removing  all  the  clouds  and  darkness  that 
have  so  long  hung  over  it,  will  introduce  the 
promised  millennial  rest  and  glory.  In  token 
of  this,  the  ark  of  his  testament  is  revealed  to 
view,  in  the  temple  of  God  in  heaven.  "  And 
the  four  and  twenty  elders,  which  sat  before 
God  on  their  seats,  fell  upon  their  faces,  and 
worshipped  God,  saying,  We  give  thee  thanks, 
O  Lord  God  Almighty,  which  art,  and  wast, 
and  art  to  come  ;  because  thou  hast  taken  to 
thee  thy  great  power,  and  hast  reigned.  And 
the  nations  were  angry,  and  thy  wrath  is  come, 
and  the  time  of  the  dead  that  they  should  be 
judged,  and  that  thou  shouldest  give  reward 
unto  thy  servants  the  prophets,  and  to  thy 
saints,  and  them  that  fear  thy  name,  small  and 
great ;  and  shouldest  destroy  them  which  de^ 
stroy  the  earth," 


LECTURE  IV. 


LECTURE  IVo 


The  Little  Book. 


REVELATION  x.  11, 


^^  And  he  sate/ unto  me^  Thou  must  prophecy  aqain  he^ 
fore  many  peoples^  and  nations^  and  ton^ues^  and 
kings, ^* 

JlHIS  is  the  commission  which  the 
Apostle  received,  when,  as  he  was  instructed  to 
do,  he  had  taken  the  little  book  from  the  an- 
gel's hand,  and  had  eaten  it. 

The  vision  of  the  little  book  is  introduced 
between  the  sounding  of  the  sixth  and  seventh 
trumpets.  Just  before  the  revelation  of  that 
exterminating  woe  that  is  to  finish  the  mystery 
of  God,  the  Apostle  *'  Saw  another  mighty 
angel  come  down  from  heaven,  clothed  with  a 
cloud,  and  a  rainbow  was  upon  his  head,  and 
his  face  was  it  were  the  sun,  and  his  feet  as  pil- 
lars of  fire : 


76  The  Little  Booh.        [lec.  iv. 

"  And  he  had  in  his  hand  a  little  book  open  :" 
—This  seems  to  have  been  a  particular  record, 
relating  especially  to  the  true  servants  of  God, 
who  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  And 
as  the  sealed  book  of  a  former  vision,  com- 
prising the  great  outlines  of  Christ's  holy  pro- 
vidence over  his  Church  and  people,  had 
already  been  opened  by  the  Lamb,  and  the 
seals  thereof  loosed  ;  this  also,  is  presented 
open,  as  comprising  one  of  the  particular  vi- 
sions by  which  the  general  view,  given  at  the 
opening  of  the  seals,  is  filled  up. 

**  And  he  set  his  right  foot  upon  the  sea^ 
and  his  left  foot  on  the  earth, 

"  And  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  as  when  a 
lion  roareth  ;  and  when  he  had  cried,  seven 
thunders  uttered  their  voices." 

The  station  which  the  angel  took,  upon  the 
sea  and  upon  the  land,  putting  them  both 
under  his  (cety  seems  to  be  an  intimation  of 
the  speedy  and  full  accomplishment  of  that 
decree  revealed  in  the  8th  psalm  ;  and  in  the 
New  Testament  repeatedly  applied  to  Christ, 
"  Thou  madest  him  to  have  dominion  over  the 
work  of  thy  hands  ;  thou  hast  put  all  things 
under  his  feet.'*  And  the  voices  of  the  seven 
thunders,  probably,  proclaimed  the  particular 


Tke  Little  Book,  77 

and  speedy  fulfilling,  of  what  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  said  by  the  prophet  Isaiah — *•  I  will 
tread  them  in  mine  anger,  and  trample  them  in 
my  fury."  The  Apostle,  however,  was  com- 
manded, "  Seal  up  those  things  which  the 
seven  thunders  uttered,  and  write  them  not ;" 
so  that  we  cannot  certainly  know  what  was  the 
particular  subject  of  them. 

The  angel  then,  in  a  formal  and  solemn 
manner,  pronounced  the  oath  of  the  Almighty, 
'*  That  there  should  be  time  no  longer ;"  imply- 
ing that  the  triumphing  of  the  wicked  is  at  an 
end,  and  that  the  delay  of  judgment,  in  aveng- 
ing the  blood  of  the  saints,  a  delay  that  has  so 
often  tried  the  faith  of  them  that  have  trusted 
in  Christ,  shall  thenceforward  cease,  and  be  no 
more.  "But  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the 
seventh  angel,*'  it  is  added,  **  when  he  shall 
begin  to  sound,  the  mystery  of  God  should  be 
finished,  as  he  hath  declared  to  his  servants  the 
prophets." 

The  divine  providence  toward  the  Church 
has  ever  comprised  in  it,  mysteries  too  great 
for  the  human  understanding  to  search.  And 
although,  in  many  cases,  men  have  been  able, 
afterwards,  to  discover  plausible,  and  some- 
times satisfactory,  reasons  for   particular  dis- 


78  The  Lllile  Book.       [lec.  iv. 

pensations ;  yet,  in  regard  of  many  of  the  great 
leading  characters  of  that  providence,  the  minds 
of  men  have  never  been  well  satisfied,  any 
otherwise  than  as  the  spirit  of  faith  has  taught 
them  to  say,  *'  Even  so.  Father,  for  so  it  seem- 
ed good  in  thy  sight."  But  when  the  voice  of 
the  seventh  angel  shall  begin  to  sound,  this 
mystery  shall  be  finished,  both  as  it  respects 
the  ancient  Church,  to  whom.**  blindness,  in 
part,  is  happened,  until  the  fullness  of  the  Gen- 
tiles be  come  in  ;"  and  also,  as  it  respects  the 
Church  that  now  bears  the  Christian  name,  as 
God  hath  revealed  in  good  news  to  his  servants 
the  prophets.  Then  **  the  saints  of  the  Most- 
High  shall  take  the  Kingdom,  and  possess  the 
Kingdom,  forever,  even  forever  and  ever." 

After,  this  solemnity,  the  Apostle  was  com- 
manded, **  Go,  and  take  the  little  book  which 
is  open  in  the  hand  of  the  angel,  and  eat  it  up." 

When  he  had  done  as  he  was  commi>r.ded, 
he  then  received  the  commision,  '*  Thou  must 
prophecy  again  before"  or,  as  the  word  more 
exactly  imports,  CGncerning,  or  against  **  many 
peoples,  and  nations,  and  tongues,  and  kings." 

There  had  already  been  signified  to  him,  for 
the  use  of  the  servants  of  Christ,  some  leading 
views  of  the  whole  progress  of  the   divine 


The  Little  Book.  79 

providence  over  the  Church.  But  he  must 
yet  again,  and  more  explicitly,  testify  before- 
hand, by  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  against  the  un- 
godliness of  men  of  all  ranks  and  conditions, 
and  witness  a  distinction  between  him  that 
serveth  God,  and  him  that  serveth  him  not. 
Intimations  had  been  given,  in  fornier  visions, 
of  the  decrees  of  God  against  an  apostate 
Church  :  but,  from  the  record  of  the  little 
book,  the  Apostle  was  now  called  to  exhibit  an 
express  and  plain  testimony  on  this  subject, 
and  to  detail  such  circumstances  as  could  not, 
except  wilfully,  be  overlooked  or  misunder- 
stood. "  And  there  was  given  me  a  reed  like 
unto  a  rod  ;  and  the  angel  stood,  saying,  Rise 
and  measure  the  temple  of  God,  and  the  altar, 
and  them  that  worship  therein. 

"  But  the  court  which  is  without  the  temple 
leave  out,  and  measure  it  not  ;  for  it  is  given 
unto  the  Gentiles  ;  and  the  holy  city  shall  they 
tread  under  foot  forty  and  two  months." 

After  the  Roman  emperors  affected  to  take 
the  Christian  Church  under  their  protection, 
and  began  to  take  on  themselves  to  model  its 
policy  on  the  principles  of  the  empire,  it  soon 
began  to  wear  very  much  of  an  earthly  aj^pear- 
ance ;    and,  in  process  of  time,   became   so 


80  The  Little  Book.        [lec.  iv. 

worldly,  in  all  its  policy  and  governina^  princi- 
ples, as  to  be  unworthy  to  be  owned  of  Him, 
who  declared,  *'My  kingdoin  is  not  of  this 
world."  Apostatized  from  Christ,  the  great 
body  of  the  nominal  Church  became  a  corrupt- 
ed mass,  and  was  rejected  of  him. 

This  decree  of  rejection  is,  I  think,  very 
explicitly  foreshown,  from  the  record  of  the 
little  book,  when  the  measuring  rod  is  put  into 
the  hand  of  the  Apostle,  and  he  is  commanded 
to  draw  the  line  of  separation,  and  distinguish 
between  the  true  temple  and  altar  of  God, 
with  them  that  worship  therein,  and  the  court 
without  the  temple  :  measuring  the  former,  as 
reserved  of  Christ  to  himself,  and  leaving  out 
the  latter,  to  be  given  up  to  the  will  and  to 
the  occupancy  of  heathenish  idolaters,  to  be 
trodden  under  foot  of  the  Gentiles,  for  a  time 
appointed,  till  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel 
shall  begin  to  sound. 

This  is,  I  suppose,  the  great  mystery  of 
God,  especially  intended,  concerning  which 
the  angel  sware  that  at  the  appointed  time  it 
should  be  finished.  It  is  indeed  a  great  mys- 
tery in  the  divine  providence.  But  it  has  un- 
questionably existed,  and  will  continue  to  exist, 
until  the  time  appointed  of  the  Father.     This 


The  Little  Book.  Si 

time  is  limited  to  forty  and  two  months.  Com- 
paring this  with  other  prophetic  dates,  I  think 
there  can  be  no  reason  to  question,  that  it  in- 
tends  so  many  months  of  thirty  days  each  ;  and 
a  year  for  each  day  ;  making  the  term  one  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  sixty  years. 

This  is  the  term  of  the  continuance  of  that 
great  mystery  of  the  divine  providence  toward 
the  Church,  during  which  the  witnesses  of 
Christ  prophecy  in  sackcloth — The  Church 
remains  in  the  wilderness — Thebeasttriumphs, 
and  holds  the  saints  under  his  domination — 
The  powder  of  the  holy  people  is  scattered — 
And  Antichrist  sits  enthroned  over  an  apostate 
Church — While  the  satictuary  is  trodden  un- 
der foot,  and  heathenish  idolaters  boast  them- 
selves in  occupying  the  place  of  the  Church  of 
the  living  God. 

These  events,  from  their  nature,  seem  so 
nearly  allied  to  each  other,  that  they  must,  I 
think,  be  very  nearly  coincident  in  point  of 
time  :  and  as  the  prophetic  records  assign  to 
each  of  them  precisely  the  same  date  of  con- 
tinuance, I  am  therefore  constrained  to  believe 
that  they  all  have  their  beginning  at  about  the 
same  time  ;  and  that  they  will  all  end  together, 
when  the  seventh  angel  shall  begin  to  sound, 


8:^  The  Little  Book.        Jjjec.  iy. 

and  the  mystery  of  God  shall  be  finished. 
Certainly  none  of  them  will  be  permitted  to 
continue  beyond  that  period. 

The  giving  the  outer  court  of  the  temple 
and  the  holy  city  to  be  trodden  under  foot  of 
the  Gentiles,  being  the  first  of  these  events 
that  we  meet  with  in  the  visions  of  the  revela- 
tion, you,  probably,  expect  of  me  an  opinion 
as  to  the  time  of  its  commencement. 

We  shall,  however,  be  better  prepared  for 
an  opinion  on  this  point,  after  a  careful  con- 
sideration of  the  true  nature  and  real  amount 
of  such  of  these  events  as  will  be  the  subject 
of  animadversion  in  the  course  of  these  lectures* 

Jin     Lii<^     i>4'wo^iA«.     AiAOka.4iv<K«,     wu;.«w    UUCo    IIUL   oCCin 

necessarily  connected  with  this  event  itself, 
any  external  circumstance  to  determine  the 
precise  point  of  time  in  history  from  which  it 
commences.  It  seems  rather  a  representation 
of  the  operation  of  the  divine  decrees,  by  which, 
possibly  in  a  silent  manner,  the  distinction  is 
made,  and  the  line  of  separation  is  drawn,  for 
the  sake  of  introducing,  or  making  way  for, 
some  of  the  other  events  connected  with  it. — 
The  act  of  measuring,  to  which  the  Apostle 
was  directed,  with  the  instructions  under  which 
it  was  done,  were  significant  of  the  divine  pur- 


The  little  Booh  8S 

pose  to  be  executed  in  due  time  :  But  not  ne- 
cessarily significant  of  any  remarkable  visible 
event,  that  we  might  expect  to  find  recorded  in 
human  histories. 

The  progress  of  that  great  community,  bear- 
ing the  name  of  the  Christian  Church,  in  cor. 
ruption  and  depravity,  commenced  early,  and 
proceeded  gradually.  And  the  historians  of 
those  times,  whose  records  have  reached  us, 
so  far  partook  of  the  spirit  of  the  times,  that  it 
is  vain  to  look  for  any  discriminating  testimo- 
ny from  them  on  this  subject.  And  the  pub- 
lic documents  and  records  of  the  community 
have  passed  through  such  hands,  and  have  been 
so  variously  represented,  and  interpreted,  that 
it  is  difficult  to  fix  on  any  particular  point  in 
that  progression  to  apostacy,  in  which  we  may 
with  confidence  suppose,  that  the  measure  of 
their  iniquity  was  filled  up  for  rejection. 

The  boasted  conversions,  however,  of  hea- 
then and  idolatrous  nations,  and  the  multitudes 
of  them  that  were  introduced  into  the  Church, 
under  the  auspices  of  Justinian,  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  sixth  century,  seem  to  argue,  both 
in  the  nature  of  the  conversions,  and  in  the 
manner  and  principles  of  their  being  intro- 
duced, that  tlie  Church  could  not  long  after 


S4  The  little  Book.         [lec,  it. 

that  time  deserve  the  name  of  Christian.  *'  It 
appears,'*  says  the  historian  Mosheim,  **  that 
the  converted  nations  retained  a  great  part  of 
their  forme i*  impiety,  superstition,  and  licen- 
tiousness." And  again,  ''  The  principal  in- 
junctions they  imposed  upon  these  rude  prose- 
lytes were,  that  ihey  should  get  by  heart  cer- 
tain summaries  of  doctrine,  and  pay  to  the 
iniages  of  Christ  and  the  saints,  the  same  reli- 
gious services  which  they  had  formerly  offered 
to  the  gods."  And  he  adds,  *'  Nor  were  they  at 
all  df^licate  or  scrujailous  in  choo^iing  the  means 
ofestabiihhingtheir  crt^dlt:  for  they  looked  upon 
it  as  lawful,  nay,  even  meritorious,  to  deceive 
an  ignorant  and  inattentive  multitude,  by  repre- 
senting to  them,  as  prodigies,  things  that  were 
merely  natural,  as  we  learn  from  the  most  au- 
thentic records  of  those  times." 

Now  whether  this  could  be  truly  a  Christian 
Church,  and  these  conversions  to  Christianity^ 
may,  I  think,  at  least  be  questioned.  And  i 
am  much  inclined  to  think,  that  the  extensive 
introduction  of  such  converts,  on  such  princi- 
ples, marks  the  nominal  Church  as  apostate^ 
and  nearly  to  be  rejected,  and  the  outer  court 
of  the  ten.ple,  and  the  holy  city,  to  be  given 
up  to  be  trodden  under  foot  of  the  Gentiles, 


The  Little  Book.  85 

When  such  conversions  were  all  that  seemed 
to  be  desired,  and  such  accessions  were  the 
boast  and  the  chief  glory  of  that  community, 
it  could  no  longer  be  accounted  the  Church 
of  Christ. 

Whenever  this  rejection  may  have  happened, 
however,  it  was  not  in  all  respects  a  total  re- 
jection,  so  as  to  cause  the  Church  of  Christ  to 
cease  to  exist  on  the  earth.  The  temple  and 
the  altar,  and  they  that  worshipped  therein  were 
reserved,  and  measured,  as  the  heritage  of  the 
Lord  separated  to  himself.  And  he  adds,  '*  I 
will  give  power  unto  my  two  witnesses,  and 
they  shall  prophecy  a  thousand  two  hundred 
and  three- score  days,  clothed  in  sack-cloth.'* 

Who,  or  what  these  witnesses  are,  is  to  me, 
a  question  of  very  great  difficulty.  But  their 
office,  and  their  designation  to  their  office  are, 
I  think,  very  plainly  described.  They  are 
witnesses  for  Christ  and  his  true  worshippers, 
against  an  apostate  and  rejected  Church. 

Their  business  is  to  prophecy,  or,  as  the  term 
imports,  to  preach  and  testify  from  the  Lord, 
against  the  enemies  of  his  ki!)gdom,  and  for 
the  consolation  of  his  believing  and  obedient 
people  ;  and  to  bear  a  living,  and  continually 
repeated  testimony  for  his  truth,  during  the 
H 


86  The  Little  Booh.         [lec.  ir. 

space  of  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  years,  or  the 
whole  term  of  the  court  of  the  temple  and  the 
holy  city  being  trodden  under  foot  of  the  Gen- 
tiles. But  they  prophecy  in  sack  cloth,  wear- 
ing  the  garments  of  mourning,  and  being 
Siubject  to  such  degrading  disguises,  as  the 
necessity  of  the  times,  and  the  arrogancy  and 
oppression  of  the  dominant  power,  impose 
upon  them.  Yet,  *'  These  are  the  two  olive- 
trees,  and  the  two  candlesticks  standing  before 
the  God  of  the  earth." 

The  manner  in  which  the  revelation  con- 
cerning these  witnesses  is  introduced,  seems  to 
imply  that  they  had  already  been,  before  this 
time,  recognized  under  this  character. 

They  are  spoken  of  as  two  established  and 
known  witnesses,  not  now  to  be  newly  raised 
up,  especially  for  this  occasion  ;  and  the  de- 
scription of  them,  as  being  *'  The  two  olive- 
trees,  and  the  two  candlesticks  standing  before 
the  God  of  the  earth,"  evidently  refers  us  to 
the  vision  which  2echariah  saw,  and  has  re- 
corded in  the  4th  chapter  of  his  prophecy. 
There  the  two  olive-trees  are  said  to  be,  "  The 
two  anointed  ones,"  or  sons  of  oil,  ''  that  stand 
by  the  Lord  of  the  v;hole  earth."  And  the 
import  of  that  vision  was  given  to  Zechariah 


The  Little  Book.  83<^ 

by  the  angel,  "  Saying,  This  is  the  word  of 
the  Lord  unto  Zerubbabel,  saying,  Not  by 
might, -nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith 
the  Lord  of  Hosts." 

The  golden  candlestick,  for  there  was  but 
one  in  that  vision,  with  its  seven  lamps,  repre- 
sented, according  to  the  explanation  of  the 
mystery  in  the  1st  chapter  of  the  Revelation, 
the  Church  of  God.  And  the  vision  conveyed 
an  assurance  that,  as  God  designed  his  Church 
should  exhibit  the  light  of  his  truth  in  the 
world,  so  he  would  provide  a  sure  and  a  constant 
supply  of  the  oil  necessary  to  support  that 
light.  It  conveyed  also,  a  particular  assurance 
to  Zerubbabel  and  his  brethren,  who,  under 
many  circumstances  of  difficulty  and  discour- 
agement, were  engaged  in  building  the  Lord's 
house,  that  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  would  in- 
sure  the  success  of  their  undertaking  :  and 
instructed  them,  that  they  were  not  to  lay 
their  calculations  in  the  might  and  the  power 
of  human  means  and  aid,  *'But  by  my  Spiiit, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  The  spirit  of  the 
Lord,  in  whose  hand  is  the  heart  of  the  king, 
had  moved  Cyrus  to  issue  his  decree  for  the 
building  the  house ;  and  the  same  Spirit  would 
insure  the  success  of  the  work. 


88  The  Little  Booli.        [lec.  iv. 

The  two  anointed  ones  have  been  supposed 
to  mean  Joshua  the  high- priest,  and  Zerubba- 
bel  the  governor.  I  do  not  perceive  any  good 
reason  for  this  supposition.  There  is  certain- 
ly nothing  here  recorded  by  the  prophet  to  de- 
termine it.  They  seem  rather  to  be  the 
sources  of  the  grace  conveyed  by  the  Spirit 
to  the  Church  and  people  of  God.  This 
v/as  certainly  the  design  and  office  of  the  two 
olive-trees  in  the  Vision,  which,  through  the 
two  golden  pipes,  emptied  the  golden  oil  out 
of  themselves,  for  the  supply  of  the  lamps. 
Now  the  sources,  whence  the  Spirit  supplies 
grace  and  life  to  the  Church  in  all  ages,  are 
the  JVord^nd  the  Ordinances  of  the  Lord, 

It  was  from  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  which 
he  had  spoken  by  Isaiah,  that  the  Spirit  stirred 
up  Cyrus  to  issue  his  decree.  And  it  had 
been  protested  by  the  angel,  in  the  preceding 
part  of  the  vision,  to  Joshua,  **  Saying,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  If  thou  wilt  walk  in 
my  ways,  and  if  thou  wilt  keep  my  charge^ 
then  thou  shalt  also  judge  my  house,  and  shalt 
also  keep  my  courts."  Moses,  by  the  divine 
appointment,  set  before  Israel  life  and  good, 
and  death  and  evil,  "  In  that  I  command  thee," 
said  he,  **  to  love  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  walk 


The  Litile  Book.  89 

in  his  tvays^  and  to  keep  his  commandment s^ 
and  his  statutes,  and  his  judgments,  that  thou 
mayest  liv€  and  multiply."  And  he  com- 
manded the  Levites  which  bare  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  of  the  Lord,  "  Saying,  Take  this 
book  of  the  lazv,  and  put  it  in  the  side  of  the 
nrk  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  your  God, 
that  it  may  be  there  for  a  zvitness  against 
thee." 

The  two  witnesses  here  spoken  of,  in  the 
vision  of  the  Apostle,  are  expressly  said  to  be, 
the  tzvo  olive  trees  and  the  iivo  candlesticks 
standing  before  the  God  of  the  earth.  And, 
according  to  the  vision  to  which  this  refers  us, 
they  would  seem  to  be  the  same  hol^  PP^ord and 
sacred  Ordinances,  represented  in  their  connex- 
ion and  relation  to  the  Church. 

But  as,  in  the  time  of  the  former  vision,' 
there  had  been  but  the  one  organizing  of  the 
Church  under  Moses,  and  but  one  candle- 
stick appeared  in  that  vision  ;  so,  in  the  time 
of  this  vision,  there  had  been  another  and 
new  organizing  of  the  Church,  under  the  name 
of  Christ  by  his  Apostles,  and  m  this  vision, 
there  are  two  candlesticks  spoken  of^  Y^iili 
vyhich  the  oljre-lrees  were  connected. 
h2 


»0  The  Liille  Booh.        [lec.  it. 

If  we  might  adopt  this  idea  of  the  witnesses, 
it  would  not  be  difficult  to  show,  that  the  fFord 
and  Ordinances  of  the  Lord^  in  their  connex- 
ion and  relation  to  the  Church,  have  ever  beei;i 
the  standing  witnesses  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness against  transgressors,  and  of  grace  and 
salvation,  through  Christ,  to  them  that  believe 
and  obey. 

They  have  continually  prophesied ;  and 
though  clothed  with  sack-cloth,  during  part  of 
their  prophesying,  and  disguised  by  whatever 
impositions,  or  vain  and  human  decorations ; 
yet,  so  long  as  they  were  not  totally  obscured 
or  proscribed,  they  have  ever  been  the  sources 
of  the  light  and  life  that  have  at  any  time  been 
supplied  by  the  spirit  of  grace  to  the  benight- 
ed and  dying  children  of  men.  By  these  the 
light  of  life  has  been  preserved  through  the 
dark  ages  of  corruption  and  ignorance,  and 
has  come  to  us  pure  and  uncontaminated,  with 
a  full  supply  of  grace  :  when,  if  they  had  been 
utterly  proscribed  and  banished,  even  from  the 
outer  court  of  the  temple,  not  a  vestige  of 
the  true  knowledge  of  Christ,  or  of  the 
light  of  life  in  him,  would,  in  all  human 
probabiiitj*,  have  bteii  preserved  to  after  ages. 


The  Little  Book.  Qi 

It  may  seem,  perhaps,  that  the  name  of  wit- 
nesses, and  the  description  and  character  here 
given  of  them,  bear  too  much  of  a  personal 
appearance  to  be  applied  to  such  subjects  as 
the  Word  and  Ordinances  of  the  Lord.     And 
yet,  we  find  Laban  saying  to  Jacob,    (Getj, 
xxxi.  44,)  **  Let  us  make  a  covenant  ;  and  let 
it  be  for  a  witness  between  me  and  thee." — 
And  again,   (Joshua  xxii.  34,)  *'  The  children 
of  Reuben,  and  the  children  of  Gad,  called 
the  altar  Ed  ;  for  it  shall  be  a  witness  between 
us,  that  the  Lord  is  God."     And   God   has 
promised   concerning    the   throne    of  David, 
(Psalm  Ixxxix.  37,)  *'  It  shall  be  established 
forever  as  the  moon,  and  as  a  faithful  witness 
in    heaven."     And  as  to  the  character   here 
given  of  these  witnesses,   "  If  any  man  will 
hurt  them,  fire  proceedeth  out  of  their  mouth, 
and  devoureth  their  enemies  ;"  God  said  by 
Hosea,  "  I  have  hewed  them  by  the  prophets  ; 
I  have  slain  them  by  the  words  of  my  mouth." 
And  by  Jeremiah,   **  Because  ye  speak   this 
word,  behold,   I   will  make   my  words  in  thy 
mouth  fire,  and  this  people  wood,  and  it  shall 
devour  them."     The  Holy  Gho>t  testifies  con- 
cerning the  ordinance  of  the  sacramental  sup- 
per, **  He  that  eateth  anddriaketh  unworthily, 


92  The  Little  Book.       [lec.  it. 

eateth  and  drinketh  damnation  to  himself.  In- 
deed, I  know  of  nothing  on  earth,  of  which, 
or  of  whom  it  may  be  said  more  emphatically, 
than  of  the  Word  and  Ordinances  of  the  Lord, 
"  If  any  man  will  hurt  them,  fire  procei^dcth 
out  of  their  mouth,  and  devoureth  their  ene- 
mies: and  if  any  man  will  hurt  them,  he  must 
in  this  manner  be  killed.  These  have  power  to 
shut  heaven,  that  it  rain  not  in  the  days  of  their 
prophecy  ;  and  have  power  over  waters  to 
turn  them  to  blood,  and  to  smite  the  earth  with 
all  plagues,  as  often  as  they  will."  If  these, 
by  means  of  men's  abusing  them,  withhold 
their  influences,  no  refreshings  of  grace  de- 
scend from  on  high — a  spiritual  death  ensues — 
the  people  represented  by  the  Vv^aters,  become 
blood — the  pulse  of  life  ceases  to  beat  ;  and 
no  gleatcr  plagues  than  these  can  smite  the 
earth. 

But  when  these  witnesses  shall  be  about 
finishing  the  period  of  their  witnessing  in  sack- 
cloth, it  is  said  that  war  will  be  made  against 
them,  and  they  shall  be  killed,  by  a  beast  that 
ascendeth  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  and  their 
dead  bodies  shall  lie  unburied  in  the  street,  or 
some  principal  division  of  the  great  city,  the 
apostate  Church.     And  they  that  dwell  on  the 


Tke  Little  Book.  93 

earth,  shall  rejoice  over  them,  for  a  little  sea- 
son ;  "  And  after  three  days  and  an  half  the 
spirit  of  life  from  God,  entered  into  them,  and 
they  stood  up  on  their  feet ;  and  great  fear  fell 
upon  them  which  saw  them.  And  they  heard 
a  great  voice  from  heaven,  saying  unto  them, 
Come  up  hither.  And  they  ascended  up  to 
heaven  in  a  cloud  ;  and  their  enemies  beheld 
them. 

*'  And  the  same  hour  there  was  a  great  earth- 
quake, and  the  tenth  part  of  the  city  fell,  and 
in  the  earthquake  were  slain  of  men  seven 
thousand  :  and  the  remnant  were  affrighted, 
and  gave  glory  to  the  God  of  heaven." 

All  this  seems  to  have  been  very  circumstan- 
tially fulfilled,  if  it  may  be  applied  to  the  sa- 
cred Word  and  Ordinances,  in  what  has  of  late 
taken  place  in  Europe,  within  our  own  recol- 
lection. 

A  spirit  of  infidelity  and  of  deadly  hostility 
to  these,  has  long  pervaded  the  greater  part  of 
the  empire  or  city  of  the  beast.  And  of  late, 
open  war  has  been  made  against  them,  and 
they  have  been  overcome  and  killed  in  one  of 
the  principal  divisions  of  that  great  com  muni- 
ty.  In  France,  the  National  Convention,  on 
the  26th  of  August    1792,  passed  a  Decree, 


94<  The  Little  Book.        [lec.  iv. 

proscribing  wholly  and  entirely  the  Word  and 
Ordinances  of  Christ,  and,  establishing  Athe- 
ism by  law,  forbid  the  use  of  every  form  of 
the  Christian  religion. 

In  the  course  of  the  following  month,  this 
decree  was  carried  into  effect,  in  a  manner  that 
seemed  likely  to  blot  out  forever  the  very 
names  of  these  witnesses  of  Christ.  And  their 
enemies,  of  every  nation,  rejoiced  and  boasted 
over  them,  and  congratulated  each  other,  in  the 
idea  that  their  authority  and  influence  were  for- 
ever destroyed. 

But  in  March,  1796,  after  a  trial  of  three 
years  and  a  half,  it  having  become  evident  that 
the  principles  they  had  substituted  for  them, 
were  equally  destructive  of  life  and  comfort, 
as  they  were  of  godliness,  after  an  immense 
number  of  people  had  perished  by  violence, 
under  the  reign  of  terror,  the  remnant  were 
affrighted,  and,  to  about  the  same  extent  that 
the  king  of  Babylon  had  done  before  them, 
they  gave  glory  to  the  God  of  heaven  ;  and 
by  a  counter  decree,  permitted  his  holy  Word 
and  Ordinances  again  to  resume  their  testimo- 
ny. **  The  spirit  of  life  from  God  entered 
into  them  :"  and,  since  that  time,  they  have 
been  more  extensively  efficacious  for  salvation, 


The  Little  Book,  95 

than  at  any  other  time  since  the  first  ages  of 
the  Christian  Church. 

Just  at  this  time,  also,  commenced  the  era 
of  Missionary  and  Bible  Societies,  on  princi- 
ples calculated,  in  due  time,  to  enable  the  wit- 
nesses to  put  off  their  sack-cloth,  and  shine  in 
their  own  native  lustre  ;  and  in  a  spirit  that 
seems  like  a  voice  from  heaven,  calling  them 
to  that  exalted  station  they  were  originally  de* 
signed  to  occupy. 

In  the  same  hour,  there  was  also  a  great 
earthquake,  that  shook  the  whole  empire  of  the 
beast ;  and  one  of  his  ten  kingdoms,  or  a  tenth 
part  of  the  city,  fell  ;  and  there  v/ere  slain  of 
men  seven  thousand. 


9S 


LECTURE  V. 


LECTURE  V. 


The  Persecutions  of  the  Bvagon, 


REVELATION  xil.  1. 

*'  And  there  appeared  a  great  xvonder  in  heaven  ;  a 
Woman  clothed  with  the  sun^  and  the  7noon  under 
her  feet^  and  upon  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve 
itars^ 

XN  this  Vision  is  given  a  general  view  of 
the  hatred  and  persecutions  of  the  great  adver- 
sary against  the  Church  of  God,  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ  in  the  world. 

This,  and  the  following  vision  in  continua- 
tion, reveal  the  principal  agents,  by  whose  in- 
strumentality the  adversary  vents  his  hatred, 
and  carries  on  his  persecutions,  against  the 
servants  of  Christ,  from  the  time  of  his  exalt- 
ation, to  his  final  triumph;  and  prepare  the 
way  for  a  full  representation,  in  the  vision  fol- 
lowing them,  of  the  triumph  of  Christ,  and  of 


10ft  The  FerseciUlou        [lec.  w 

the  great  salvation  he  will  accomplish  for  his 
Church. 

The  three  former  visions  are  complete  ia 
themselves ;  each  one  continuing  the  particular 
prophetic  view  it  is  designed  to  give,  from  its 
commencement  to  its  consummation. 

The  three  following  appear  to  be  a  series  of 
visions,  of  which  this  is  introductory,  and  the 
ether  two  follow  in  chronological  order,  con- 
tinuing the  same  prophetic  view,  under  its  ap- 
propriate symbols,  according  to  the  different 
characters  which  it  exhibits,  and  ending,  as 
each  of  the  three  former  had  done,  in  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  triumph  of  Christ,  and  the 
destruction  of  his  enemies. 

After  the  iJ'scrimination  made  in  the  vision 
of  the  little  book,  between  the  true  worshippers 
of  God,  and  the  apostates  who  were  to  be  re- 
jected ;  and  after  the  representation  there  given 
of  the  low  and  afflicted  state  of  the  servants  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  narrow  limits  within  which 
his  true  Church  would  for  a  time  be  compre- 
hended  ;  it  became  a  question  of  very  great 
interest — Whence  come  these  things  to  pass  ; 
and  what  shall  be  the  circumstances  and  situ- 
ation of  the  Church  ;  and  who  her  enemies 
and  oppressors,  that  shall  at  length  cause  the 


of  the  Dragon.  101 

holy  City  to  be  given  to  the  Gentiles,  to  be 
trodden  under  foot  of  thejn  forty  and  two 
months  ? 

This  part  of  the  revelation  seems  designed 
to  meet  these  enquiries. 

**  There  appeared  a  great  wonder  in  hea\^- 
en" — The  term  here  translated  wonder ,  is,  in 
its  derivation  and  import,  equivalent  to  the 
one  used  in  the  1st  verse  of  chap.  1,  and  there 
translated,  "  he  signifiecL''^  It  means  simply,  a 
sign,  or  significant  emblem.  This  emblem 
was  ''  a  woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  and  the 
moon  under  her  feet,  and  on  her  head  a  crown 
of  twelve  stars." 

This  is  an  emblem  of  the  Church  of  God, 
invested  with  the  rays  of  the  sun  of  righteous- 
ness, and  all  sublunary  things  put  in  subjection 
to  her  destinies,  and  she  herself  distinguished  by 
a  crown  of  twelve  stars,  significant  of  the  twelve 
patriarchs,  and  the  tribes  descended  from  them, 
who  originally  constituted  the  Church  of  God 
on  earth. 

Unto  this  Church  it  had  been  promised,  in 
that  interesting  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  "•  Unto  us 
a  child  is  born — unto  us  a  son  is  given,  and  the 
government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder ;  and 
his  name  shall  be  called  VVoriderfuI,  Counsel- 

I2 


lOS  The  rersecution         [lec.  v. 

ler,  the  mighty  God,  the  everlasting  Father, 
the  Prince  of  Peace."  And  it  is  here  said  of 
the  woman,  *'And  she,  being  with  child, 
cried,  travailing  in  birth,  and  pained  to  be  de- 
livered." 

The  Church  is,  in  this,  represented  in  the 
situation  she  was  in,  at  about  the  conclusion  of 
the  seventy  weeks  prophesied  of  by  Daniel, 
when  all  the  pious,  and  them  that  waited  for 
the  consolation  of  Israel,  were  travailing  with 
earnest  expectation  of  the  coming  of  Messiah 
the  prince  ;  and  looking  for  redemption  in  Is- 
rael, by  the  mighty  Counsellor  promised  by 
Isaiah. 

"  And  there  appeared  another  wonder,'^  or 
significant  emblem,  "  in  heaven ;  and,  behold, 
a  great  red  dragon,  having  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns,  and  seven  crowns  upon  his  heads.  And 
his  tail  drew  the  third  part  of  the  stars  of 
heaven,  and  did  cast  them  to  the  earth." 

This  dragon  is  afterwards  described,  "  That 
old  serpent,  called  the  devil,  and  satan,  which 
deceive th  the  whole  world,"  a  fit  prototype  of 
that  beastly  power  revealed  to  the  prophet  Dan- 
iel, as  th:  fourth  beast,  or  kingdom  on  earth 
that  should  devour  the  whole  earth.  That 
it  is  this  fourth  power  that  is  here  intended, 


of  the  DvagQU,  103 

I  conclude,  from  his  being  described  by  the 
same  distinguishing  appearance  of  having  ten 
horns»  and  from  the  character  given  of  him, 
particularly  in  his  universal  and  terrible  do* 
minion,  and  his  persecuting  the  saints. 

His  horns,  which,  in  a  succeeding  vision,  are 
seen  wearing  their  crowns,  are,  in  this,  yet  un- 
crowned ;  for  the  vision  relates  to  events,  that 
took  place,  before  this  appearance  was  devel- 
oped  in  his  actual  existence  ;  and  the  Apostle 
saw  him  in  this  vision,  as  the  prophet  Daniel 
had  seen  him,  in  this  particular.  Another 
distinguishing  character  of  him  was,  however, 
at  this  time,  already  developed,  in  his  varied 
forms  of  supreme  dominion  :  and  he  appeared 
to  the  Apostle  having  seven  heads,  and  seven 
crowns  upon  his  heads.  And,  as  an  emblem 
of  his  extensive  dominion,  his  tail  drew  the 
third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  did  cast 
them  to  the  earth. 

He  is  farther  described  as  being  red — the 
colour  adopted  by  the  fourth,  or  Roman  gov- 
ernment, to  adorn  and  to  distinguish  the  splen- 
dor of  the  imperial  dignity. 

"  And  the  dragon  stood  before  the  woman 
which  was  ready  to  be  delivered,  for  to  devour 
her  child  as  soon  as  it  was  born." 


104  The  Fersicnilon        [lec.  v. 

The  Roman  government,  boasting  itself  the 
the  mistress  of  the  world,  never  condescended 
to  notice  the  Church,  as  a  Church,  till  the  con- 
fident expectation  of  Messiah  the  Prince 
awakened  her  jealousy.  Then  the  Roman 
governor  of  Judea,  to  maintain  the  universal 
dominion  of  the  Csesars,  and  to  secure  his 
own  delegated  authority  uudtr  them,  with  un- 
distinguishing  zeal  and  rage,  *'  Slew  ail  the  chil- 
dren that  were  in  Bethlehem,  and  in  aii  the 
coasts  thereof,  from  two  years  old  and  under ;'' 
that  he  might  thereby  be  sure  to  destroy  him, 
who,  he  had  been  told,  was  b:)rn  king  of  the 
Jews.  And,  afterward,  when  the  name  of  the 
Prince  of  Peace  came  to  be  revered  and  to  be 
trusted  in  by  many,  even  the  majesty  of  Rome 
descended  to  all  the  meanness  of  persecution, 
and  the  exertion  of  beastly  power,  to  crush 
the  growing  church,  and  eradicate  the  Chris- 
tian name.  But  the  counsel  of  the  Lord  shall 
stand,  and  he  v;ill  do  all  his  pleasure. 

The  woman  *'  brought  forth  a  man-child," 
or,  as  it  would  be  more  literally,  and  more  em- 
phatically translated,  a  son,  a  mariy  "  who  was 
to  rule  all  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron,"  This 
part  of  the  description  is  taken  from  the  decree 
recorded  in  the  2d  Psalm — **  I  shall  give  thee 


of  the  Bvag'on.  105 

the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession. 
Thou  shalt  break  them  with  a  rod  of  iron." 
The  same  description  is  also  applied  in  chap. 
19th  of  the  Revelation,  to  him  who  is  King  of 
kings,  and  Lord  of  lords — It  is  the  true  Mes- 
siah, the  Prince  of  Peace  that  is  here  intended. 
And,  when  this  child  was  born — this  son  was 
given  to  the  Church,  and  the  old  serpent, 
through  the  agency  of  the  Roman  power, 
sought  to  devour  and  utterly  destroy  him,  he 
**  was  caught  up  unto  God,  and  to  his  throne." 
He  was  exalted  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 
"Far  above  all  principality,  and  power,  and 
might,  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is 
named,  not  onlv  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that 
which  is  to  come."  All  things  were  put  un- 
der his  feet ;  and  he  was  made  to  be  head  over 
all  things  to  the  Church. 

This  explication  of  this  first  part  of  the  vis- 
ion, I  am  aware,  applies  to  events  that  had  ta- 
ken place  before  the  Apostle  saw  the  vision. 
But  as  no  history  gives  an  intelligible  represen- 
tation  of  any  great  event,  without  going  back 
to  trace  the  causes,  and  shew  the  connexion 
whence  such  event  arose  ;  so,  in  a  general  view 
of  the  great   contest  between  the   Church  and 


106  The  Persecution        [lec.  r. 

the  adversary,  which  is  at  last  to  be  termina- 
ted by  a  glorious  and  signal  display  of  the  pow- 
er and  grace  of  the  King  of  kings  in  favor  of 
his  Church,  it  was  necessary  to  make  the  view 
complete  and  fully  intelligible,  that  the  vision 
should  go  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  contest^ 
that  is  conducted  on  the  part  of  the  adversary, 
by  the  fourth  and  last  beastly  power  predicted 
as  the  formidable  enemy  of  the  Church,  and 
give  a  distinguishing  representation  of  the  be« 
ginning  of  that  contest,  that  so  the  progress 
and  the  finishing  of  it  might  be  distinctly 
foreshown.  The  object  was,  to  shew  things 
that  must  come  to  pass.  But  here  was  a 
necessity  to  introduce  the  revelation  of  them, 
by  declaring  things  that  had  already  taken  place. 
And  it  was  worthy  of  the  spirit  of  truth,  in  this 
case  as  well  as  in  others,  to  direct  the  Prophet 
in  recording  them. 

To  ascribe  the  description  here  given  of  the 
son  that  was  born,  as  has  been  usually  done,  to 
Constantine,  or  to  any  other  mortal,  would  be  to 
derogate  from  the  prerogatives  of  the  King  of 
kings.  And  to  avoid  this,  by  ascribing  it  to 
Christ  mystically,  as  he  will  rule  by  his  peo- 
ple, is  heaping  symbol  upon  symbol  in  an  un- 
warrantable manner,  and  rendering  the  whole 


of  the  Dragon,  107 

unintelligible.  The  liberties  of  this  kind,  that 
commentators  have  taken,  have  done  more  than 
any  thing  else  to  perplex  the  understanding  of 
the  prophecies,  and  render  them  obscure  and 
indeterminate. 

I  am  persuaded,  this  vision  is,  thus  far,  re- 
trospective. And  the  occasion  and  cause  of 
it  being  by  this  explained,  the  vision  then  pro- 
ceeds to  state,  that  the  Church  should  retire  in- 
to the  wilderness. 

^  "And  the  woman  fled  into  the  wilderness, 
where  she  hath  a  place  prepared  of  God,  that 
they  should  feed  her  there  a  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  three  score  days." 

The  wilderness  is  a  place  of  retreat  from  the 
customary  haunts  of  men.  And  the  woman 
fleeing  into  the  wilderness,  represents  the  true 
Church  of  God,  as  retiring  from  the  courts  of 
Princes,  and  from  the  observation  of  the  men 
of  the  world,  and  continuing  in  comparative  ob- 
scurity, while  the  Gentiles  tread  under  foot  the 
holy  City  ;  and  her  place  is  occupied  by  an  a- 
postate  Church,  during  the  space  of  1260  years. 
When,  however,  this  had  been  stated  as  a  lea- 
ding object  of  the  vision,  the  vision  then  re- 
turiis  to  bring  up  the  prophetic  history,  in  a 


108  The  Persecution        [lec.  r, 

representation  of  the  immediate  causes  of  this 
event,  to  the  period  of  its  taking  place. 

**  And  there  was  war  in  heaven  ;  Michael 
and  his  angels  fought  against  the  dragon  ;  and 
the  dragon  fought,  and  his  angels,  and  prevail- 
ed not,  neither  was  there  place  found  any  more 
in  heaven." 

This,  I  suppose,  represents  the  contest  of 
the  pagan  empire  against  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  And  the  dragon  and  his  angels  con- 
stitute an  emblem  of  the  Roman  government, 
and  its  officers  and  dependants.  But  as  the 
emblem,  by  which  the  Church  of  Christ  is  rep- 
resented in  the  vision,  is  unsuited  to  the  repre- 
sentation of  battles  and  war,  Michael,  the  Prince 
that  standeth  for  the  children  of  God's  people, 
is  introduced  with  his  angels  maintaining  the 
contest  on  the  behalf  of  the  Church.  And  it  is 
well  worthy  of  remark,  that  during  this  whole 
period,  the  Christians  made  no  efforts  to  resist 
by  force  the  oppressions  and  violence  of  their 
Pagan  persecutors,  but  submitted  themselves 
quietly  to  them  that  ruled  over  them,  even  after 
they  came  to  be  probably  more  numerous  than 
their  oppressors,  and,  in  all  human  appearance, 
able  to  resist  with  much  effect.  Yet  they  bore 
their  testimony  with  meekness,   and  opposed 


of  the  Dragon.  109 

to  the  violence  of  their  adversaries,  nothing 
but  an  honest  life  and  upright  manners,  and  a 
faithful  testimony  for  the  truth,  which  they 
held  themselves  ready  to  seal  with  their  blood. 
Therefore  it  is  here  said  of  them,  *'And  they 
overcame  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by 
the  word  of  their  testimony  ;  and  they  loved 
not  their  lives  unto  the  death."  The  Prince 
of  the  hosts  of  the  Lord  stood  for  them,  and 
maintained  their  cause,  till  "  The  great  dragon 
was  cast  out,  that  old  serpent,  called  the  devil, 
and  satan,  which  deceiveth  the  whole  world  ;  he 
was  cast  out  into  the  earth,  and  his  angels  were 
cast  out  with  him." 

This  describes  the  revolution,  when  heathen 
emporors  ceased  to  reign,  and  the  head  of  the 
empire  professed  himself  the  friend  of  the 
Christian  Church.  It  was  a  time  of  great  re- 
joicing and  triumph  in  the  Church,  when 
Constantine  openly  professed  to  espouse  the 
Christian  cause. 

Whether  in  the  end  it  proved  advantageous 
to  truth  and  piety,  or  not,  it  certainly  relieved 
the  Church  from  grievous  oppressions ;  and 
afforded  a  great  opportunity  for  the  furtherance 
of  the  Gospel.  When,  therefore,  it  was  view- 
ed in  this  light,  it  was  indeed  an  occasion  of 

K 


ilO  The  Persecution       [lec.  v. 

great  joy  in  the  Church.  As  a  representation 
of  this,  It  is  added,  "  And  I  heard  a  loud  voice, 
saying  in  heaven,  Now  is  come  salvation,  and 
strength,  and  the  kingdom  of  our  God,  and  the 
power  of  his  Christ ;  for  the  accuser  of  our 
brethren  is  cast  down,  which  accused  them  be- 
fore God  day  and  night.  And  they  overcame 
him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word 
of  their  testimony ;  and  they  loved  not  their  lives 
unto  the  death.  Therefore  rejoice,  ye  heav- 
ens, and  ye  that  dwell  in  them."  At  the  same 
time,  there  is  denounced  a  **  Woe  to  the  inhab. 
iters  of  the  earth  and  of  the  sea  !  for  the  devil 
is  come  down  unto  you,  having  great  wrath, 
because  he  knoweth  that  he  hath  but  a  short 
time." 

This  was  the  first  beginning  of  the  prostra- 
tion of  pagan  authority  and  dominion  before 
the  Christian  name  :  and  it  was  a  prostration  of 
the  highest  dignity,  and  the  most  exalted  au- 
thority that  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air, 
the  God  of  this  v/orld,  could  boast.  It  was, 
therefore,  a  sure  presage  to  him,  that  his  king- 
dom  among  men  must  eventually  be  destroy, 
ed  ;  and  that  the  kingdom,  which  the  God  of 
heaven  had  set  up,  should  fill  the  whole  earth. 
When,    therefore,   he   was  cabt  out  of  this 


of  the  Bmgon,  111 

eminent  dominion  into  the  earth,  he  came  down 
to  his  inferior  thrones  of  pagan  dominion, 
some  of  them  more  and  some  less  established, 
like  the  earth  and  the  sea,  and  extending  al- 
most under  the  whole  heaven,  with  great  wrath, 
to  stir  them  up,  and  bring  them  to  support  his 
contest  against  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the 
power  of  his  Christ ;  because,  having  begun 
to  fall,  he  knew  that  the  complete  destruction 
of  his  kingdom  was  hastening  on. 

It  is  true  he  was  afterward  greatly  success- 
ful  in  controuling  and  wielding  the  power  and 
authority  of  the  same  empire  from  which  he 
had  been  cast  out  :  but  never  in  his  own 
name.  Whatever  he  accomplished  afterward, 
bore  this  mark  of  subjection  and  inferiority, 
that  his  agents  never  acted  openly  in  his  name, 
to  bring  any  glory  to  the  pagan  authority,  but 
whatever  they  accomplished  for  him,  was  un- 
der the  cloak  and  disguise  of  the  Christian 
name. 

He  succeeded,  however,  among  his  inferior 
thrones,  to  stir  up,  and  bring  on,  to  the  contest 
barbarous  pagan  nations  on  the  borders  of  his 
ancient  empire.  And  for  two  hundred  years 
they  vexed  and  harassed  the  empire  and  the 
Church,   till  at  length  they    overcame   and 


lis  The  Persecution        [lec.  v. 

possessed  the  dominion  ;  but  at  the  same  time 
they  changed  their  name  and  profession,  and 
took  on  them  the  name  and  the  profession  of 
Christians.  This  is  thus  described  in  the  vision : 
*'  And  when  the  dragon  saw  that  he  was  cast 
unto  the  earth,  he  persecuted  the  woman  which 
had  brought  forth  the  man  child" — Or,  as  in  the 
original,  t/ie??ia?j,  "  And  to  the  woman  were 
given  two  wings  of  a  great  eagle,  that  she 
might  fly  into  the  wilderness,  into  her  place ; 
where  she  is  nourished  for  a  time,  and  times, 
and  half  a  time,  from  the  face  of  the  serpent." 

Whatever  corruptions  the  imperial  favour 
was  the  means  of  introducing  into  the  Church, 
and  no  doubt  they  were  great,  and  led  to  her 
being  finally  rejected  of  Christ  ;  yet  this  fa- 
vour afforded  a  protection  for  the  true  Church 
of  Christ  in  all  after  ages,  from  the  violence 
of  pagan  hatred  and  power. 

The  extensive  dominion  of  the  empire,  at 
that  time  divided  into  two,  the  eastern  and  the. 
western,  Uketwo  wings  of  a  great  eagle,  which 
was  the  Roman  standard,  afforded  a  shelter 
and  defence  for  all  that  bore  the  Christian 
name,  throughout  that  dominion,  from  being 
oppressed  by  pagan  authority.  Even  the  suc- 
cess and  conquests  of  the  barbarians,  in  their 


of  the  Dmgon.  IIS 

irruptions  into  the  empire,  were  overruled,  in 
the  providence  of  God,  to  serve  the  same  pur* 
pose  ;  as  is  described  in  the  two  following 
verses : 

*'  And  the  serpent  cast  out  of  his  mouth, 
water  as  a  flood  after  the  woman,  that  he  might 
cause  her  to  be  carried  away  of  the  flood. 

"  And  the  earth  helped  the  woman ;  and 
the  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and  swallowed  up 
the  flood  which  the  dragon  cast  out  of  his 
mouth." 

Waters  are  emblematical  of  multitudes  of 
people,  especially  of  tumultuous  bodies  of 
them.  Such  were  the  barbarian  pagan  nations, 
by  whom  the  serpent  sought  to  deluge  and 
overwhelm  the  Church  of  Christ.  "  Nothing," 
says  an  eminent  writer  on  this  subject,  (A'Vw- 
ton.)  '*  was  more  likely  to  produce  the  ruin 
and  utter  subversion  of  the  Christian  Church, 
than  the  irruptions  of  so  many  barbarous  hea- 
then nations,  into  the  Roman  empire.  But  the 
event  proved  contrary  to  human  appearance 
and  expectation  :  the  earth  swallowed  up  the 
flood.  The  barbarians  were  rather  swallowed 
up  by  the  Romans,  than  the  Romans  by  the 
barb  irians.  The  heathen  conquerors,  instead 
of  imposing  their  own,  submitted  to  the  reiigioa 
M.2 


114  The  Terucntion        [lec.  v. 

of  the  conquered  Christians  ;  and  they  not 
only  embraced  the  rehgion,  but  affected  even 
the  laws,  the  manners,  the  customs,  the  lan- 
guage and  the  very  name  of  Romans  ;  so  that 
the  victors  were  in  a  manner  absorbed  and  lost 
among  the  vanquished." 

The  earth,  his  own  kingdom,  and  the  pagans, 
his  own  devoted  subjects,  here  failed  the  great 
adversary  the  serpent,  and  contrary  to  all  hu- 
man calculations,  the  inundation,  by  which  he 
hoped  to  regain  his  lost  dominion,  was  swal- 
lowed up  and  lost  to  his  purpose.  And,  al- 
though this  event  made  the  necessity,  yet  it 
also  afforded  the  opportunity,  for  the  woman 
to  retire  from  the  face  of  the  serpent — the 
Church  to  cease  from  the  conflict  with  avowed 
pagan  idolatries,  until  the  time  appointed  for 
her  final  triumph. 

This,  I  suppose,  determines  the  true  era  of 
the  commencement  of  the  1260  years  of  the 
retreat  of  the  Church  in  the  wilderness.  And, 
though  we  may  not  be  able  to  fix  on  the  pre- 
cise year  of  its  commencement,  yet  1  think  it 
uiSqiieslionable,  that  it  must  have  been,  either 
cotemporaneous,  or  immediately  consequent  to 
the  event  here  revfalcd  :  when  thebe  litathens 
professed   to  embrace  the   Christian  religion, 


of  the  Bvagon.  115 

and  became  constituent  members  of  the  com- 
munity styling  Itself  the  Church  of  Christ. 

The  temple  of  God  hath  no  agreement  with 
idols  ;  nor  Christ  any  concord  with  Belial. 

When,  therefore,  these  sons  of  Belial  were 
introduced  within  the  pale  of  the  Church,  and 
permitted  to  bring  in  with  them  their  flood  of 
idolatries,  into  a  Church  already  far  gone  ia 
devotedness  to  idols  ;  then  the  true  worship- 
pers of  God  must  be  separated  from  that 
Church  :  and  the  real  community  of  Christ's 
people  must  be  constrained  to  hold  their  fellow- 
ship with  each  other  in  retirement,  in  the  wil- 
derness. 

In  that  unassociated  state,  they  must  main- 
tain their  little  communities,  separated  froni 
each  other,  and  be  dissenters  from  the  ecclesi- 
astical establishments  within  the  bounds  of  the 
old  empire  of  the  dragon,  until  the  time  ap- 
pointed. And  though  many  shall  cleave  unto 
them  with  flatteries,  so  that  some  of  them  of 
Understanding  shall  fall,  yet  it  shall  only  be 
*'  to  try  them,  and  to  purge  and  make  them 
white,  even  to  the  time  of  the  end  :  because 
it  is  yet  for  an  appointed  time." 

They  may  in  some  instances  be  flattered 
with  seeming  countenance  and  favour  by  those 


118  The  Perseciillon  &c,     [lec.  v. 

who  occupy  the  empire  of  the  dragon.     Bat 
it  is  designed  only  as  a  snare  for  them,  that 
they  may  be  taken  and  fall;    for  the  purpose 
of  the  old  serpent  is  to  externfiinate  them,  if 
possible,  wholly  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

**  And  the  dragon  was  wroth  with  the 
woman,  and  went  to  make  war  with  the  rem- 
nant of  her  seed,  which  keep  the  command- 
ments of  God,  and  have  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
Christ.'* 

Christ  being  exalted  to  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  high,  and  his  Church  dispersed  in 
the  wilderness,  the  dragon  set  himself  to  perse- 
cute the  followers  of  Christ,  wherever  he  might 
find  them  ;  as  is  more  particularly  detailed  in 
the  next  succeeding  vision. 


LE  CTURE  VI. 


LE  CTURE  VI, 


The  Vision  of  the  Beasts^ 


REVELATION  xiii.  1. 

"  Afid  1  stood  upon  the  sand  of  the  sea.  and  saxv  a 
Bedit  rise  up  out  of  the  ^ea.  having  seven  headi  and 
ten  horns  and  upon  his  horns  ten  crowns^  and  upon 
his  heads  the  name  of  blasphewj.'*'' 

JL  HIS  Vision  exhibits,  in  continuation, 
the  same  ^c^eneral  view,  which  wah  begun  to  be 
exhibited  in  the  preceding  virion,  of  the  hatred 
and  persecutions  i)f  the  great  adversary,  the 
old  serpent,  aganist  tiic  Church  ot  God,  the 
Kingdom  oi*  Christ  in  the  world,  li  describes, 
under  the  character  of  Beasts,  the  principal 
agents,  by  whosf  instruuientality  tlie  adversary 
vents  his  hatred,  and  carries  on  his  persecutions 
during  the  space  of  1260  years. 

The  scene  of  vision  uas  chani;cd  when  the 
dragou  was  cast  out  iiito  the  eaitii,  and  this 


ISO  The  Vision  [lec.  vi. 

vision  was  witnessed  by  the  Apostle  in  very 
much  the  ^ame  situation  as  the  visiow  of  the 
little  book. 

THE  BEAST  WITH  SEVEN  HEADS  AND  TEN 
HORNS. 

The  first  Beast  here  described  is,  I  think, 
evidently  the  same  as  is  described  in  the 
prophecy  of  Daniel.  It  is  there  revealed,  that 
there  should  be  four  successive  dominions, 
that  should  bear  rule  in  the  earth,  according 
to  the  vision  of  the  four  beasts  which  the 
prophet  saw  rise  out  of  the  sea  :  and  that  the 
fourth  beast,  diverse  from  the  others,  exceed- 
ing dreadful,  and  having  ten  horns,  should  be 
the  fourth  kingdom  on  earth.  The  same  thing 
is  also  there  revealed  under  another  figure,  in 
the  prophet's  interpretation  of  the  dream  of 
Nebuchadnezzar ;  in  which  he  saw  the  image, 
whose  "  head  was  of  gold,  his  breast  and  his 
arms  of  silver,  his  belly  and  his  thighs  of  brass, 
his  legs  of  iron,  his  feet  part  of  iron  and  part  of 
clav."  In  his  explanation,  the  prophet  said  to 
the  king  of  Babylon,  "  Thou  art  this  head  of 
gold.  Aid  after  thee  shall  arise  another  king- 
dom ir.ferior  to  thee,   and   another,  a   third 


ef  the  Beasts.  ISl 

kingdom  of  brass,  which  shall  bear  rule  over 
all  the  earth.  And  the  fourth  kingdom  shall 
be  strong  as  iron."  These  have  been  uni- 
versally  understood  to  designate  the  four  great 
kingdoms  that  have  successively  reigned  over 
all  that  part  of  the  world,  where  the  Church  of 
God  existed.  The  first,  or  Babylonian,  was 
succeeded  by  the  Persian — that  by  the  Mace- 
donian, and  the  Macedonian  by  the  Roman, 
And  the  kingdom  set  up  by  the  God  of  heaven, 
is  represented  as  putting  an  end  to  this  kind  of 
dominion,  and  destroying  utterly  the  image  of 
these  kingdomii,  by  smiting  with  violence,  the 
last  of  them,  and  causing  the  whole  form  of 
them  to  be  destroyed,  and  the  very  materials 
of  them  to  "become  as  the  chaff  of  the 
sunmier  threshing  floors  ;  and  the  wind  carri- 
ed them  away,  that  no  place  was  found  for 
them.*' 

The  three  former  of  these  had  fallen  from 
their  dominion,  though  their  lives  were  pro- 
longed for  a  season  and  time,  and  the  fourth, 
or  Roman  dominion  alone  continued,  at  the 
time  when  the  Apostle  saw  this  vision.  I 
think  it,  therefore,  unquestionable,  that  it  was 
a  representation  of  this  dominion,  in  one  par- 
ticular form  of  it,  which  was  to  be  its  last  form^ 
L 


laa  The  Vision  [lec.  Vi, 

that  he  saw,  in  the  beast  that  rose  out  of  the 
sea,  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and  upon 
his  horns  lep  crowns, 

Jn  the  explanation  of  the  vision  of  Daniel, 
it  is  said,  **  The  fourth  beast  shall  be  the  fourth 
kingdom  upon  earth,  which  shall  be  diverse 
from  all  kingdoms,  and  shall  devour  the  whole 
earth,  and  shall  tread  it  down,  and  shall  break 
it  in  pieces. 

*'  And  the  ten  horns  out  of  this  kingdom 
are  ten  kings  that  shall  arise." 

Here  are  two  distinguishing  characters  of 
this  kingdom. 

It  was  diverse  from  all  kingdoms. 

The  other  dominions  existed,  uniformly, 
under  one  and  the  same  form  of  government 
from  their  beginning  to  their  end.  Although 
the  third,  or  Macedonian,  was  divided,  during 
part  of  the  time  of  its  continuance,  into  four 
principalities  ;  yet  they  all  bore  the  same 
character  of  kingly  governments.  The  fourth 
was  to  be  diverse  from  the  others.  This  di- 
versity, I  suppose,  consisted  in  this  very  par- 
ticular, of  its  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns, 

1st.  In  its  seven  heads. 

No  other  dominion  ever  underwent  so  many 
(Jhanges  in  its  headi  where  the  supreme  power 


of  the  Beasts.  isa 

was  lodged,  and  yet  continued,  under  all  of 
them,  essentially  the  same  dominion.  The 
beast  therefore  appeared  to  the  Apostle  having 
seven  heads.  And  it  vi^as  distinctly  explained 
to  him  afterwards,  (Chap,  xvii.)  that  the  domin- 
ion it  represented,  would  be  distinguished,  by 
having  seven  kinds,  or  headc,  of  government ; 
live  of  which,  it  was  stated  to  him,  had  already 
been,  and  were  fallen ;  one  was  at  that  time, 
Ivhen  the  Apostle  saw  the  vision  ;  and  the  other 
was  not  yet  come.  Now  the  Roman  govern- 
ment first  arose  under  kings  as  the  head  of 
dominion.  To  these  succeeded  consuls — 
then  dictators — after  these,  decemvirs — and 
these  again  were  put  down  to  make  way  for 
military  tribunes. 

Through  all  these  changes  the  Roman  glory 
and  dominion  continued  to  be  increased.  And 
at  length,  at  the  summit  of  their  glory,  empe- 
rors reigned  as  the  head  of  dominion.  This 
was  the  sixth  form  of  government,  and  existed 
in  the  Apostle's  days.  The  seventh  was  not 
yet  come  ;  and  it  is  added,  "when  he  cometh 
he  must  continue  a  short  space."  But  he  was 
to  come,  and  occupy  his  short  space,  before  that 
particular  form  and  arrangement  of  the  domin- 
ion which  was  represented  to  the  Apostle  by  the 


1^4  The  Vision  [ixc.  vt. 

ten  horns :  for  the  Angel  in  his  explanation 
expressly  tells  him,  *'  The  beast  that  thou 
sawest — that  was,  and  is  not,  even  he  is  the 
eighth,  and  is  of  the  seven,  and  goeth  into 
perdition."  Commentators,  in  that  licentious- 
ness  of  fancy  they  have  ventured  to  indulge, 
in  commenting  on  the  prophecies,  have  weari- 
ed themselves  to  discover,  what  they  have 
styled,  the  septimo  octave  head  of  the  beast, 
and  seem  wholly  to  have  overlooked  this  ex- 
press declaration  of  the  angel.  The  Roman 
dominion  is  the  beast,  unchanged,  as  to  its 
beastly  nature,  from  beginning  to  end,  till  it 
shall  go  into  perdition.  And  this  form  of  it, 
which  the  Apostle  saw  under  ten  distinct 
principalities,  was  its  eighth  and  last  form,  un- 
der which  it  will  go  into  perdition.  Instead  of 
being  represented  and  formally  reckoned  as  a 
head  of  the  beast,  as  the  preceding  forms  had 
been,  it  is  described  as  branched  out  and  di-» 
vided  into  ten  horns,  distinguishing  this  last 
form  of  government  from  all  the  others  ;  and 
although  it  is  said  to  be  of  the  seven,  it  is 
counted  the  eighth. 

The  imperial  form  of  government  ended 
with  Augustulus,  in  476.  All  that  remained, 
after  this,   of  the  Roman  name  and  form  of 


of  the  Beasts.  125 

government  in  the  west,  was  the  senate  and 
consuls.  This  continued  but  a  short  space. 
In  566,  Italy  was  reduced  to  the  form  of  a 
province;  and  the  seventh  head  ceased  to 
exist. 

But  the  beast,  *Uhe  fourth  kingdom  upon 
earth,"  did  not,  therefore,  also  cease  to  exist* 
It  seemed,  indeed,  in  its  last  head,  to  be 
wounded  to  death.  The  sword  of  the  barba- 
rians must,  in  all  human  calculation,  have  been 
supposed  at  the  time,  to  have  destroyed  forever 
the  Roman  name  and  authority,  and  to  have  era* 
sed  the  principles  and  the  foundation  on  which 
the  dominion  rested.  But  it  was  represented 
otherwise  to  the  Apostle,  and  it  proved  other- 
wise in  fact. 

The  conquerors  settled  on  the  same  founda* 
lion,  and  aspired  to  the  same  dominion  ;  and 
under  a  new,  or  eighth  form,  which  is  therefore 
counted  to  be  of  the  seven,  they  attained  to 
the  same  dominion. 

The  barbarians  adopted  the  Roman  laws, 
the  religion  of  the  empire,  the  Roman  man- 
ners,  and  even  affected  the  Roman  name.  This 
coalition  of  the  conquerors  with  the  conquer- 
ed— the  barbarians  with  the  Romans,  is  very 
distinctly  predicted  in  Daniel's  explanation  of 


1^6  The  Vision  [lec.  vx. 

Nebuchadnezzar's  dream.  The  legs  of  iron, 
in  the  image  he  saw,  represent  the  former  part 
of  the  Roman  dominion  ;  and  the  feet,  part  of 
iron  and  part  of  clay,  the  prophet  thus  explains, 
(ii.  41.)  **  And  whereas  thou  sawest  the  feet 
and  toes,  part  of  potter's  clay  and  part  of  iron  : 
the  kingdom  shall  be  divided  ;  but  there  shall 
be  in  it  of  the  strength  of  iron,  forasmuch 
as  thou  sawest  the  iron  mixed  with  miry- 
clay.  And  as  the  toes  of  the  feet  were  part  of 
iron  and  part  of  clay,  so  the  kingdom  shall  be 
partly  strong  and  partly  broken. 

**  And  whereas  thou  sawest  iron  mixed  with 
jniry  clay,  they  shall  mingle  with  the  seed  of 
men  :  but  they  shall  not  cleave  one  to  another, 
even  as  iron  is  not  mixed  with  clay." 

This  is  a  most  circumstantial  representation 
of  the  new  form  of  dominion,  that  arose  under 
the  Lcitin  or  Reman  name,  when  the  victorious 
barbarians  mingled  with  the  inhabitants  of  the 
ancient  dominion,  and  constituted  a  kind  of 
republic  of  kingdoms,  all  owning  the  same 
origin,  and  professing  to  derive  their  laws, 
and  authority,  and  their  principles  of  govern- 
ment and  of  religion,  from  the  same  source* 
And,  as  in  the  lowest,  or  last  part  of  the  image, 
the  dominion  seemed  divided  into  ten  princi- 


af  the  Beasts.  1S7 

palities,  represented  by  the  ten  toes  of  the  feet : 
so,  in  the  prophet's  vision,  in  which  the  fonrth 
beast  he  saw  represents  this  dominion,  that 
beast  appeared  with  ten  horns,  or  emblems  of 
power  ;  and  it  is  thus  explained  to  him  :~ 
*'  The  ten  horns  out  of  this  kingdom,  are  ten 
kings  that  shall  arise."  Not  that  the  domin- 
ion should  be  thus  distinguished  from  the  be- 
ginning  ;  but  in  its  progress,  these  principal- 
ities  should  arise,  and  distinguish  its  latter 
appearance. 

This  is  another  distinguishing  character  of 
the  beast,  which  the  Apostle  saw  rise  out  of 
the  sea, 

fid.  In  its  ten  horns. 

In  a  former  vision,  recorded  in  the  12th 
chapter,  the  Apostle  had  seen  these  ten  horns 
of  the  beast,  as  Daniel  saw  them  ;  yet  un- 
crowned ;  for  they  had  not  yet  attained  their 
dominion.  And  although,  at  the  time  to 
which  that  vision  relates,  the  characteristic 
mark,  of  several  various  heads,  or  different 
forms  of  government,  had  been  developed  ia 
history,  so  that  the  Apostle,  in  addition  to 
what  had  been  seen  by  Daniel,  saw  also,  the 
seven  heads  of  the  beast,  wearing  their  seven 
crowns;  yet  the  horns  wore  the  same  appearance 


12^  The  Vision  [ixc.  yj. 

as  in  the  ancient  vision,  till  the  Apostle,  in  this 
vision,  describing  the  rising  of  the  beast  in 
this  particular  form  of  it,  with  reference  to  the 
time  of  the  change  taking  place,  saw  it  arise 
with  '*  ten  horns,  and  upon  his  horns  ten 
crowns^'*^  In  a  succeeding  vision  the  angel 
explains  this,  as  the  same  vision  had  been  ex- 
plained to  Daniel.  **  The  ten  horns  which 
thou  sawest,  are  ten  kings."  And  he  adds, 
with  reference  to  the  time  when  the  Apostle  saw 
the  vision,  *'  Which  have  received  no  kingdom 
as  yet,  but  receive  power  as  kings  one  hour 
with  the  beast.*' 

They  did  not  exist  to  characterise  the  beast 
in  any  of  the  preceding  forms  ;  but  they  con- 
stitute the  supreme  power  of  the  beast  during 
one  hour,  or  one  division,  or  part  of  his  exist- 
ence. And  although  they  cannot  be  accounted 
strictly  an  individual  head,  as  all  the  former 
were,  when  the  supreme  power  was  lodged 
with  one  individual,  or  with  several  conjoined, 
so  as  to  be  only  one  distinct  body  ;  yet  thejr 
come  in  place  of  the  head,  and  actually  con- 
stitute the  supreme  power  of  the  beast  in  one 
of  its  forms.  This  is  the  eighth,  and  what- 
ever  the  change  may  seem,  is  of  the  seven. 


of  the  Beasts.  l^S 

It  ariseth  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  under 
the  iiifluence  of  the  old  serpent,  after  he  was 
cast  out  of  his  ancient  dominion  ;  and  is 
the  form,  under  which  the  fourth  beast  will 
end,  and  go  into  perdition. 

This  makes  that  other  seemingly  contradic- 
tory  description  applicable  to  it,  *'  The  beast 
that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is." 

The  Roman  dominion  seemed  crushed,  and 
overwhelmed  by  the  barbarian  nations.  And 
when  they  settled  within  its  bounds,  and  the 
several  principalities  represented  by  the  ten 
horns  arose,  it  certainly  wore  the  appearance 
of  a  new  dominion.  Yet  the  spirit  of  pro- 
phecy recognized  it,  as  only  another  farm  of 
the  same  fourth,  and  last  earthly  dominion  that 
shall  exist.  The  beast  is  the  same,  but  no 
longer  united  under  one  individual  head  as 
formerly.  As  the  Macedonian  empire,  after 
the  first  horn  was  broken,  was  represented  by 
a  beast  with  four  horns,  to  signify  the  four 
principalities  which  arose  with  the  successors 
of  Alexander  :  so  the  fourth,  or  Roman  do- 
minion, is  represented  to  the  Apostle  as  rising 
under  its  last  form,  out  of  the  sea,  from  the 
deadly  wound  it  had  received,  in  ten  distinct 
principalities.     It  is  not  the  same  head  that 


13d  The  Vision  [lec.  ti# 

received  the  deadly  wound,  that  again  revives  t 
but  it  is  the  beast  that  was  wounded,  that 
again  recovers  life,  and  is  healed  of  his  deadly 
wound. 

A  catalogue  of  these  kingdoms,  as  they 
first  divided  the  supreme  power  among  them, 
is  given,  in  a  distinct  and  formal  manner,  by 
a  historian,  {MachiaveL)  whom  no  one  ever 
suspected  of  being  prejudiced  in  favour  of  ap* 
plying  these  prophecies  to  them  as  horns  of 
the  beast* 

Their  names,  with  the  dates  of  their  origin^ 
are  as  follows  : — 

1st,  The  Huns  in  Hungary,  about  the  year 

2d.  The  Ostrogoths  in  Mcesia,  in  377. 

^^,  The  Visigoths  in  Paunonia,  in  378- 

4th.  The  Franks  in  France,  in  407. 

5th.  The  Vandals  in  Africa,  in  407. 

6th,  The  Sueves  and  Alans  in  Spain,  in  407. 

7th.  The  Burgundians  in  Burgundy,  in  407. 

8th.  The  Heruli  and  Turingi  in  Italy,  in  476- 

9th.  The  Saxons  and  Angles  ia  Britain,  in 
476. 

10th.  The  Lombards  in  Hungary  and  Italy, 
in  520, 


of  the  Beasts,  131 

Of  these  kingdoms,  some  continue  to  the 
present  day.  And  although  there  have  been 
changes  with  regard  to  others,  some  falling, 
and  others  rising  up  in  their  stead  ;  yet,  from 
that  time  to  the  present,  this  dominion  has 
been  distinguished  from  all  other  dominions, 
by  its  being  constantly  occupied  by  several 
distinct  principalities,  all  united  in  some  com- 
mon  principles,  by  which  they  hold  themselves, 
in  some  respects  at  least,  to  be  one  body. 
Though  the  attempt  has  been  repeatedly 
made,  by  foreign  invasion,  and  by  one  and  an- 
other rising  up  among  themselves,  to  reduce 
them  all  under  one  head,  it  has  always  failed  of 
success.  In  this,  the  late  scourge  of  Europe 
attempted  to  go  beyond  his  commission,  and 
from  the  scourge,  aimed  to  become  the  con» 
queror  of  those  guilty  nations.  But  when  he 
seemed,  in  all  human  probability,  ready  to  ac- 
complish his  aim,  he  was  suddenly  cast  down, 
and  his  commission  taken  from  him. 

To  this  day  they  have  cofitinued  about  the 
same  number  of  distinct  principalities ;  and 
will  continue  till  the  beast  shall  go  into  perdi- 
tion. Every  one  of  then)  has  maintained, 
throughout,  its  beastly  character  ;  requiring 
cF  their  subjects  to  bow  down,  and  worship 


13^  The  Vision  [^lec.  vi. 

whatever  image,  or  idol  they  are  pleased  to  set 
up  :  and  ruling,  both  in  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
concerns,  by  the  law  of  furce,  or  mere  ph\  sical 
po  er.  This  *•  ratio  ultima  ref^um,^^  or,  last 
argument  oj' kings,  has  been  the  boast  of  their 
dominion.  And,  however  they  may  have  been 
obliged,  at  times,  to  modify  the  exercise  of  it 
for  a  season,  it  has  always  been,  and  still  is,  the 
foundation  or  which  they  rest,  and  the  vital 
principle  of  their  existence. 

It  is  not  in  this  alone,  however,  that  they  are 
identified  with  each  other,  and  with  the  Roman 
dominion.  This  character  they  have,  in  com- 
mon wirh  all  the  other  beasts  that  have  reigned 
on  the  earth. 

They  also  agree  and  give  their  power  and 
strength  unto  the  beast. 

There  subsists  a  family  compact  between 
them,  in  which,  though  they  are  alniost  con* 
tinually  at  war  among  themselves,  yet  they 
hold  themselves  bound,  to  a  certain  extent,  not 
only  for  defence  against  foreign  invasions,  but 
also  in  their  striving  among  themselves,  to 
maintain,  what  they  technically  call,  "  the  bal- 
ance of  power;"  and  prevent  atry  one  from 
sinkii  g  out  of  existence,  orfrcm  rising  to  a 
Supreme  dominion.     In  this  principle  the  great 


oj  the  Beasts.  133 

Congress  of  nations  is  now,  or  has  lately  been, 
assembled  at  Vienna.  And  if  the  time  of  their 
continuance  is  now  drawing  near  to  its  close, 
they  will,  probably,  arrange  the  dominion,  and 
parcel  it  distinctly  into  ten  different  principali- 
ties,  that  under  that  form  it  may  go  into  perdi- 
tion. Out  of  the  same  principle,  also,  has 
grown,  what  is  called  among  them,  '*  The  law 
of  nations,"  by  which  they  hold  themselves 
bound  to  each  other,  in  certain  general  max- 
ims or  rules,  which  all  are  pledged  to  support^ 
for  the  mutual  defence  of  their  authority  and 
dominion.  Thus  they  form  a  kind  of  republic 
of  kingdoms,  all  resting  on  the  same  founda- 
tion, and  supporting  the  same  cause  ;  and 
having,  therefore,  a  community  of  interests,  ia 
the  maintenance  of  which  they  constitute  ef- 
fectually one  body,  and  agree,  and  give  their 
power  and  strength  to  this  body. 

They  are  also  identified  v/ith  each  other, 
and  with  the  Roman  power  of  dominion,  in 
their  all  deriving  their  principles  of  law,  and  of 
civil  policy  from  the  same  source. 

After  ihey  had  established  themselves  with- 
in the  bounds  of  the  Roman  empire,  but  be- 
fore this  family  compact  was  begun,  Justinian, 
v;ho  then  reigned  at  Constantinople  with  the 

M 


134  The  Vision  [lec.  ti. 

title  of  emperor,  in  the  eastern  division  of  the 
empire,  employed  the  most  learned  and  able 
civilians  of  his  time,  the  principal  one  of  whom 
was  a  pagan,  to  collect  and  digest  into  one 
body,  or  code,  the  ancient  Roman  laws  and 
principles  of  jurisprudence.  This,  when  comj- 
pleted,  he  published  in  about  the  year  530,  as 
the  standard  law  of  the  empire.  The  princi- 
ples of  this  code  were  sooner  or  later  adopted 
by  all  the  newly  risen  kingdoms :  and  to  this 
day,  the  Justinian  code  is  the  great  fountain  of 
law  with  every  one  pf  them. 

So,  also,  in  their  ecclesiastical  concerns,  their 
religious  principles  and  policy  are  derived  from 
the  same  sources. 

They  adopted  the  forms  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and  received  the  nominally  Christian 
Church,  as  they  had  been  arranged  and  model- 
ed by  the  emperors  and  their  bishops  :  and 
the  Roman  Church  became  their  Church,  and 
the  Romish  religion,  their  religion. 

These  two  great  causes  iirst  brought  them 
into  compact  with  each  other,  and  at  the  same 
time  that  they  had  influence  to  bind  thern  togeth- 
er as  one  body,  they  also  necessarily  connected 
them  to  the  Roman  dynasty,  and  brought  them 
into  the  authority  and  power  of  the  lloman 
dominion. 


of  the  Beasts.  135 

I'll  lis  they  were  revealed  to  the  Apostle,  as 
the  continuation  of  the  fourth  kingdom  on 
earth,  which  had  been  revealed  to  the  ancient 
prophet* 

They  constitute  one  body,  though  divided 
into  several  distinct  principalities,  like  the  toes 
of  the  great  image,  and  the  ten  horns  of  the 
beast,  wearing  their  ten  crowns.  And  they 
will  continue  to  maintain  this  characteristic, 
till  the  end  of  the  triumphing  of  the  adversa- 
ries of  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  and  of 
the  enemies  of  true  godliness. 

The  beast  is  farther  described  in  the  vision, 
**  And  the  beast  which  I  saw  was  like  unto  a 
leopard,  and  his  feet  were  as  the  feet  of  a  bear, 
and  his  mouth  as  the  mouth  of  a  lion."  He 
concentrated  in  himself  the  br^astly  qualities 
and  character  of  the  three  former  beasts,  that 
had  bi^en  described  by  the  prophet  Daniel. 

"'  And  the  Dragon  gave  him  his  power,  and 
his  seat,  and  great  authority," 

The  dragon  of  paganism,  animated  by  the 
old  serpe'it  the  devil,  had  been  cast  out  from 
the  imperial  dominion,  and  had  come  down  to 
his  inferior  dominions  with  great  wrath,  and 
cast  out  water  as  a  fiowd  after  the  woman. 
He  stirred  up  the  pagan  nations,  to  invade  the 


136  The  Tision  [lec.  ti* 

dominion  from  wliich  he  had  been  cast  out, 
with  intent  to  destroy  the  Church  of  Christ. 
But  when  he  found  that  these  nations,  though 
victorious,  were  yet  adopting  the  laws  and 
sentiments  of  the  conquered,  and  were  likely 
to  be  swallowed  up  of  them  ;  like  a  subtle 
adversary,  he  changed  his  measures,  and  joined 
issue  with  them,  that  he  might  thereby  bring 
in  the  spirit,  though  he  could  not  the  name,  of 
paganism  into  the  reputed  Church  of  Christ, 
and  thus  more  successfully  make  war  with  the 
remnant  of  the  seed  of  the  woman  which  keep 
the  commandments  of  God,  and  have  the  tes- 
♦:-^-r.Tr  Qf  Jesus  Christ.     For  there   was   a 

remnant,  even  in  those  daysj  that  testified 
against  the  pagan  innovations  that  were  intro- 
duced  into  the  Church.  But  the  great  body 
of  the  Church  had  exceedingly  corrupted  their 
ways  ;  and  the  Lord,  in  his  holy  and  mysteri- 
ous  providence,  suffered  the  dragon  in  this 
way,  to  prevail.  And  the  dragon  gave  the 
beast  his  power,  and  his  seat,  and  great  author- 
ity, that  he  might  thereby  secure  his  service, 
and  use  him  as  an  instrument  and  agent  of  his 
hatred  and  malice  against  the  followers  of  the 
Lanib. 

In  this  way  the  pagan  philosophy,  and  pagan* 


of  the  Beasts.  137 

notions  of  God  and  of  religion,  soon  came  to 
take  the  lead,  and  prevail  in  the  Church  :  and 
the  writings  of  Piato  and  of  Aristotle  gained  a 
credit,  above  those  of  Paul  and  the  Apostles  : 
and  reputed  saints,  like  the  demons  of  pagan- 
ism, occupied  the  place  of  the  one  only  Medi- 
ator between  God  and  man.  Pagan  principles 
of  moralit}',  and  pagan  notions  and  forms  of 
religion  triumphed,  and  to  this  hour  continue 
to  triumph,  under  the  authority  of  the  beast, 
and  the  patronage  of  the  dragon. 

Thus  the  Christian  world,  with  a  pagan 
phrenzy,  "  wondered  after  the  beast.  And 
they  worshipped  the  dragon,  which  gave  pow- 
er unto  the  beast ;  and  they  worshipped  the 
beast,"  delighting  to  call  it  the  great  holy  Ro- 
man empire,  and  bowing  down  and  prostrating 
themselves  to  adore  and  serve,  as  the  Lord's 
anointed,  the  viceroys  of  the  devil ;  **  saying, 
Who  is  like  unto  the  beast  ?  Who  is  able 
to  make  w^ar  with  him  ? 

*'  And  there  was  given  unto  him  a  mouth 
speaking  great  things,  and  blasphemies,  and 
power  was  given  unto  him  to  continue  forty 
and  two  months." 

The  time  of  his  blasphemies  is  limited  ; 
and  the  charter  of  his  existence  will  expire, 

M    2 


138  The  Vision  [lec.  yi. 

with  the  1260  years  given  to  the  Gentiles  to 
tread  under  foot  the  holy  city. 

Then  shall  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  take 
the  kingdom,  and  possess  it  even  forever  and 
ever.  But,  till  that  period  is  accomplished,  "  It 
was  given  unto  him  to  make  war  with  the  saints, 
and  to  overcome  them  ;  and  power  was  given 
him  over  all  kindreds,  and  tongues,  and  na- 
tions. And  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  shall 
worship  him,  whose  names  are  not  written  in 
the  book  of  life  of  the  Lamb  slain  from  tht 
foundation  of  the  world." 

Mysterious  as  this  may  seem,  in  the  holy 
providence  of  Christ  the  Lord  toward  his  saints, 
yet  it  has  been  literally  fulfilled  according  to 
the  prediction.  The  fundamental  principles 
of  the  policy  of  the  beast,  and  of  all  the  craft 
by  which  he  prospers,  from  their  very  nature, 
lead  him  to  war  against  the  saints,  as  those 
whom  he  most  dreads  and  hates  :  and,  in  the 
holy  providence  of  the  Lord,  he  is  permitted 
to  overcome  them.  And  so  extensive  and  ab- 
solute  is  his  influence  and  power  over  ail 
kindreds,  and  tongues,  and  nations,  that  none 
has  been  found  to  stand  up  agaii  st  him  cr 
their  behalf.  Whatever  l.avr  b<.<-n  the  efforts 
of  ambiuous  individuals,  or  combinations  of 


of  the  Beasts.  ,       139 

men,  to  break  the  power  of  this  dominion, 
they  have  all  been  animated  by  the  spirit  of 
the  beast  himself,  and  have  aimed  at  nothing 
more,  than  to  occupy  his  place,  and  receive  for 
themselves  individually,  that  adoration  and 
worship  which  they  still  held  to  be  due  to  the 
isupreme  authority  in  the  seat  of  dominion. 
Aad  all,  whose  names  arc  not  written  in  the 
Lamb's  book  of  life,  have  worshipped,  and 
still  continue  to  worship  the  beast.  While  his 
power  and  authority  are  devoted  to  the  support 
of  beastly  anti-christian  principles,  and  contin- 
ually exercised  in  oppressing  and  afflicting  the 
saints  ;  yet  all  acknowledge  that  power  and 
authority  to  be  of  God,  and  therefore  to  be 
conscientiously  respected  and  obeyed.  Even 
at  the  time  of  the  reformation,  the  reformers 
seem  to  have  thought  of  but  half  their  work ; 
and  while  they  resisted  the  domination  of  anti- 
christian  power  and  principles  in  the  Church, 
they  either  through  necessity,  or  perhaps  un- 
wittingly  bowed  respect  to  the  very  pov/er  and 
autl^ority  that  supported  and  maintained  the 
Antichrist, 

Although  they  received  favors  from  some  of 
the  horns  \i  the  beast,  that  seemed  to  oblige 
the  generosity  of  their  natures  to  a  return  of 


140  The  Vision  ^c,        [lbc.  vi. 

compliments  ;  and  by  this  means  some  of 
those  horns  abated  a  liule  the  rigour  of  their 
domination  over  the  saints  ;  yet,  to  this  day, 
every  horn  of  the  beast  maintains  his  beastly- 
power  and  authority  over  them,  and  each  one, 
as  far  as  he  thinks  he  may  with  safety  to  his 
dominion,  excrcises'^his  power  and  authority, 
to  oppress  and  afflict  the  humble  followers  of 
the  Lamb.  Their  acts  of  Jciith — their  acts  of 
uniformitt/  and  of  conformity — their  establish- 
ments— their  concordat — their  test-larusy  and 
even  their  tolerations,  as  they  now  exist,  all  of 
them  bear  the  same  stamp  :  and  by  whatever 
new  names,  or  reformed  appearances  they  may 
seek  to  disguise  them,  they  all  partake  of  the 
same  nature,  and  are  designed  to  sanction  the 
exercise,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  of  that 
beastly  domination,  by  which  they  attempt  to 
bind  the  consciences  of  men  to  obey  their  au- 
thority, and  in  which  they  oppress  and  afflict 
the  saints. 

But  the  end  of  all  these  things  is  at  hand, 
**  If  any  man  have  an  ear,  kt  him  hear. 
**  He  that  leadeth  into  captivity,  hhall  go  into 
captivity  ;    he    that    killeth    with    the   sword, 
must  be  killed  with  the  sword.     Here  is  the 
patience  and  the  faith  of  the  saints.'' 


mmmmamtmmn 


LE  CTURE  VII. 


LECTURE  VIL 


The  Beast  with  two  Ilovns. 


REVELATION  xni.  11. 

"  And  I  beheld  another  bea^t  coming  up  out  of  tJie 
earth  ;  and  he  had  two  horns  like  a  kimby  and  he  spake 
as  a  dragon, 

1-  HIS  new  dominion,  here  represented 
as  rising  up  out  of  the  eanh,  is  not  reckoned 
among  the  great  dominions  revealed  to  th.e 
prophet  Daniel,  as  those  that  should  reign  over 
the  earth  m  succession,  till  the  dominion  shall 
be  given  to  the  saints.  The  last  of  those  cor- 
responds with  the  ten-horned  dominion  de- 
scribed in  the  former  part  of  this  chapter^ 

But,  in  considering  the  horns  of  that  domin- 
ion, the  Prophet  beheld,  and  ''  there  came  up 
among  them  another  little  i)orn,  before  'vhom 
there  were  three  of  the  first  horns  plucked  up 
by  the  roots  ;  and  behold,  in  this  horn  were 


i44  The  Beast  [ixc.  th. 

eyes  like  the  eyes  of  a  man,  and  a  rr.outh  spea- 
king grtat  things, — and  his  look  was  more  stout 
than  his  fellows.'' 

Here  is  a  dominion  described  as  connected 
with  the  fourth  that  should  be  on  the  earth  in 
its  last  form,  and  in  some  sense  rising  out  of  it, 
and  making  a  constituent  part  aniong  the  seve*- 
ral  principalities;  yet  differing  from  them,  in 
having  eyes  like  a  man,  and  his  look  more  stout 
than  his  fellows,  speaking  great  things. 

This  has  generally  been  understood  to  rep- 
resent that  spiritual,  or  ecclesiastical  dominion, 
of  earthly  foundation  and  authority,  that  arose, 
and  subsisted  in  the  church  of  Rome,  and  has 
for  centuries  been  exercised  with  such  arro# 
srancv  in  connexion  with  the  dominion  of  the 
beast  w^ith  ten  horns. 

The  Beast  here  described  by  the  Apostle, 
appears  to  correspond  with  this  horn,  and  to 
represent  the  same  dominion.  It  is  the  dominr 
ion  arrogated  to  itself  by  an  apostate  Church, 
which,  proJessing  to  held  only  the  power,  and 
to  exercise  only  the  dominion  of  a  lamb,  yet 
speaks  as  a  dragon,  and  tyrannizes  over  man* 
kind. 

Other  dominions  arose  up  out  of  the  sea, 
from  small  beginnings,  in  the  midst  of  tumults 


with  two  Horns.  145 

and  agitations,  conquering  and  subduing  na- 
tions under  them.  But  this  arose  out  of  the 
earth  in  the  midst  of  a  dominion  already  form- 
ed. And  therefore,  also,  this  beast  is  said  to 
exercise  all  the  power  of  the  first  beast  beforfe 
him,  or  in  his  presence.  It  is  a  kind  of  em- 
pire within  an  empire  :  a  dominion  in  some 
respects  essentially  distinct  from  the  other ; 
yet  in  its  origin  and  foundation,  and  in  its  pro- 
fessed 'design  and  aim,  so  diverse  from  the 
other,  that  its  existence  is  not  deemed  incom- 
patible with  it  ;  nor  even  the  possession  and 
exercise  of  its  whole  authority  in  the  very 
presence  of  the  other  dominion.  There  seems, 
in  this,  a  very  singular  concurrence  and  agree- 
ment between  these  two  dominions. 

Just  such  a  friendly  concurrence  and  agree- 
ment has  subsisted  between  the  Roman  em- 
pire under  its  last  form,  and  the  ecclesiastical 
dominion  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

Under  the  emperors,  the  Christian  Church 
was  either  oppressed  and  persecuted  by  them, 
as  by  enemies,  or  when  they  professed  to  be  its 
friends,  was  subjected  to  their  authority  and  do- 
mination.  And  even  after  emperors  ceased  to 
reign  in  the  west,  the  emperors  of  the  east 
held  a  supreme  controul  'and  dominion,  in  and 
N 


146  The  Bcasi  [lec.  yii. 

over  the  Church,  till  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
Justinian.  Vigilius,  at  that  time  bishop  of 
Rome,  strove  hard  to  cast  ofF  the  authority  of 
the  emperor.  But,  in  the  language  of  a  pious 
historian,  "  Justinian  suffered  not  Vigilius  to  be 
the  pope  of  the  Church.''  He  chose  to  be 
himself  both  pope  and  emperor.  After  the 
death  of  Justinian,  however,  the  Roman  Church 
seems  to  have  acted  very  much  independently 
of  the  emperors.  And  amidst  the  changes 
that  took  place,  and  in  the  absence  of  all 
supreme  authority  in  the  west,  while  the  bar- 
barian kingdoms  were  settling  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  authority 
of  the  Church  increased,  and  became  in  a  grt  at 
measure  independent.  And  those  who  held 
and  administered  the  Church  authority,  suc- 
ceedtd  to  make  it  so  necessary  in  those  newly 
formed  kingdoms,  that  they  found  it  for  their 
interest  to  countenance  and  support  it,  and  al- 
io v/cd  it  to  extend  an  influence,  even  to  teri\- 
poral  concerns,  and  generally,  to  all  the  inteir- 
ests  of  their  dominion. 

Thus,  as  a  judicious  writer,  (WlmtGn.)  ob- 
serves, the  ecclesiastical  power  has  become 
*'  the  common  centre  ai.d  cement,  which  unites 
ail  the  distinct  kingdoms  of  the  Roman  empire ; 


with  two  Horns.  147 

and,  by  joining  with  them,  procures  them  a 
blind  obedience  from  their  subjects  ;  and  so  it 
is  the  occasion  of  the  preservation  of  the  old 
Roman  empire  in  some  kind  of  unity  and 
name  and  strength." 

This  extraordinary  dominion  was  obtained, 
and  is  exercised  by  the  concurrence  of  two 
distinct  powers,  or  orders  of  men  in  the 
Church,  represented  by  the  two  horns,  with 
which  the  beast  appeared.  And  as  the  horns 
were  like  those  of  a  Iamb,  so  these  two  powers 
both  profess  to  derive  their  authority  from 
Christ  the  Lamb  of  God,  and  to  exercise  it  ia 
his  name,  and  for  the  service  of  his    cause. 

These  are  the  two  orders  of  the  Romish 
hierarchy,  or  priesthood,  called  the  regular, 
and  the  secular  clergy.  The  former,  holding 
a  kind  of  general  office  and  influencing  author- 
ity in  the  church,  without  any  particular 
charge ;  the  latter  having  particular  charges 
annexed  to  their  office,  and  being  the  allowed 
legal  rulers  in  the  Church.  These  are  the  two 
eminent  fountains  of  power  in  the  Roman 
Church  ;  or  the  two  horns  of  the  beast.  In 
their  authority  and  influence,  the  ecclesiastical 
dominion  affects  an  entire  supremacy  over  all 
sublunary  persons  and  things,  and  takes  to 


us  The  Beast  [lec.  vif. 

itself  the  state  of  the  god  of  this  world,  and 
utters  decisions  and  decrees  like  the  dragon, 
and  to  the  same  idolatrous  and  blasphemous 
purposes. 

"  He  exerciseth  all  the  power  of  the  first 
beast  before  him,  and  caiiscth  the  earth,  and 
them  which  dwell  therein,  to  worship  the  first 
beast  whose  deadly  wound  was  healed." 

The  plain  common  sense  of  mankind,  while 
professing  the  Christian  religion,  would  never, 
of  its  own  motions,  have  come  to  identify  the 
barbarian  dominion,  with  all  its  pagan  spiriC 
and  character,  with  Christian  dominion  ;  so  as 
to  look  upon  it  as  an  ordinance  of  God,  that 
ought  to  be  cherished  and  supported  at  every 
expence,  as  containing  in  it  the  spirit  and  life 
of  the  Christian  Church.  But  the  hierarchy- 
perceiving  that  their  importance,  and  beastly 
dominion  must  rest  on  such  a  foundation,  and 
be  supported  by  such  principles,  were  greatly 
zealous  and  active  to  settle  this  foundation 
and  enforce  these  principles,  in  such  a  way, 
that  their  interposition  was  necessary  to  sanc- 
tify the  thrones,  and  to  consecrate  the  princes. 
Thus  these  pagan  thrones,  by  the  ghostly  au- 
thority of  the  hierarchy,  became  sacred,  as 
ordinances  of  God,  and  the  princes,  the  Lord's 


with  two  Horns.  149 

anointed.  By  the  inBuence  of  the  hierarchy 
the  barbarian  kingdoms  had  their  stability  ;  yet 
in  such  a  way  that  the  good  will,  and  the  favor 
of  the  hierarchy  were  always  necessary  to  the 
stability  of  their  thrones,  as  they  were  also 
necessary  to  the  support  of  the  hierarchy. 
Thus  this  beastly  dominion,  under  the  appear- 
ance of  a  lamb,  caused  the  earth  and  them  that 
dwell  therein,  to  worship  the  first  beast,  whose 
deadly  wound  was  healed.  By  its  means,  the 
name,  and  the  authority,  and  the  glory  of  the 
old  Roman  dominion  was  revived  in  the  ten 
horns.  And  these  pagan  principalities,  having 
assumed  Christian  names,  and  appearing  under 
Christian  forms,  were  worshipped  as  occupy- 
ing the  place  of  God  and  of  Christ  in  civil 
concerns,  as  the  hierarchy  also  affected  to  do 
in  spiritual.  Dr.  Scott,  in  his  commentary, 
well  observesof  the  Romish  hierarchy,  '*  They 
have  always  been  the  enemies  of  civil  liberty, 
and  the  supporters  of  tyranny,  and  even  of  the 
ww/aw^/l// commands  of  those  princes  who  sup- 
ported their  authority  ;  which  is  a  kind  of 
idolatry,  as  it  exalts  the  will  of  man  above  that 
of  God.  So  tnv.  tyranny  upholds  them,  and 
the)  uphold  tyranny  ;  they  enslave  men's 
consciences  and  help  kings  to  enslave  their 
n2 


150  The  Beast  [lec.  vii. 

persons  ;  and  in  bot)i  respects  enforce  idolatry. 
Implicit  obedience,  however,  to  the  authority 
of  the  beast,  as  su^^porting  idolatry,  and  re- 
quiring men  to  worship  creatures  and  images, 
under  heavy  penalties,  must  be  especially 
meant." 

"  And  he  doeth  great  wonders,  so  that  he 
inaketh  fire  come  down  from  heaven  on  the 
earth  in  the  sight  of  men,  and  deceiveth  them 
that  dwell  on  the  earth,  by  means  of  those 
hiiracles,  whieh  he  had  power  to  do  in  the  sight 
of  the  beast." 

In  explaining  and  applying  this,  I  need  only 
copy  from  the  same  excellent  commentator  as 
above,  "  The  second  beast  maintains  his 
power  by  doing  great  wonders,  &c." 

These,  whether  they  be  human  impostures, 
or  wro'jght  by  the  agency  of  satan,  he  doeth  in 
the  sight  of  men  to  deceive  them,  and  in  the 
sight  of  the  first  beast  to  serve  him  ;  but  they 
are  performed  neither  by  the  power,  nor  for 
the  glory  of  God.  The  fire  may  allude  to  the 
miracles  wrought  by  Elijah  ;  and  predict  the 
vain  pretences  of  the  beast  to  miracles  of  the 
same  kind.  Thus  the  miracles  of  which  the 
advocates  for  popery  boast,  as  certain  marks  of 
a  true  Church,  are   here    shewn    to   be  the 


with  two  Horns.  151 

distinguishing  stigma  of  Antichrist — that  is, 
such  ambiguous  and  suspicious  miracles,  or 
indeed  any  miracles,  if  wrought  in  support  of 
idolatry,  in  opposition  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
scriptures,  and  to  justify  the  persecuting  cru- 
elty of  those  who  profess  them.  By  these 
means  the  two  horned-beast,  or  the  regular  and 
secular  clergy  deceived  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth,  to  make  an  image  of  the  first  beast,  or 
the  temporal  authority  of  the  empire,  as  it 
formerly  subsisted  in  the  emperor  at  Rome." 

"  Saying  to  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth, 
that  they  should  make  an  image  to  the  beast, 
which  had  the  wound  by  a  sword  and  did  live. 

"  And  he  had  power  to  give  life  to  the  image 
of  the  beast,  that  the  image  of  the  beast  should 
both  speak,  and  cause  that  as  many  as  would 
not  worship  the  image  of  the  beast  should  be 
killed. 

"  And  he  causeth  all,  both  small  and  great, 
rich  and  poor,  free  and  bond,  to  receive  a  mark 
in  their  right  hand,  or  in  their  foreheads  ; 

*'  And  that  no  man  might  buy  or  sell,  save 
he  that  had  the  mark  or  the  name  of  the  beast, 
or  the  number  of  his  name." 

This  is  the  description  of  an  image,  very 
active  indeed,  and  very  efficient  to  promote  the 


15^  The  Beast  [lec.  vh. 

designs  and  purposes  of  the  beast  that  made  it. 
It  can  be  no  other,  I  diink^  than  the  popc« 
do'ai,  or  papacy  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  in- 
cluding under  it,  the  general  form  ai.d  organi- 
zation of  the  Church  on  the  principles,  and 
after  the  plan  of  the  old  Roman  empire  ;  the 
pope  occupying  the  place  of  the  emperor.  It 
was  invented  and  contrived  by  the  two  orders 
of  the  clergy,  represented  as  the  two  horns  of 
the  beast,  and  is  by  their  power  and  authority, 
supported;  for  in  the  papacy  their  powxr  and 
authority  centres.  And,  from  time  to  time, 
when  the  old  incumbent  dies,  or  is  otherwise 
removed,  they^  in  the  college  or  consistory  of 
cardinals,  elect  a  new  one,  and  raise- whom  they 
please,  even  from  the  lowest  orders,  if  they  so 
choose,  to  fill  the  office.  And  having  elected 
him,  and  given  him  his  crown,  and  clothed 
him  in  the  pontifical  robes,  they  then  elevate 
him  upon  an  altar,  and  kiss  his  feet.  Thus  they 
create  him,  and  then  adore  him  :  for  the}  tlicm- 
selves  call  this  ceremony  adoring  his  holiness. 
When  thus  by  them  created  and  exalted,  he 
rules  for  them,  and  supports  and  sanction^ 
their  authority,  as  they  do  his.  By  him  they 
h(jld  a  kind  of  supremacy  over  the  prir>ci;;ali- 
ties  of  the  empire,  by  which  they  arc  uii  boun4 


with  two'Rorns.  15d 

60  serve  and  support  one  dominion  ;  and  all 
conspire  together  to  "  blaspheme  the  name  of 
God,  and  his  tabernacle,  and  them  that  dwell 
in  heaven  ;"  and  to  hold  together  their  beast- 
ly dominion,  and  tyrannize  over  them  that  dwell 
on  the  earth. 

Bishop  Newton  remarks,  "  The  pope  is  the 
principle  of  unity  to  the  ten  kingdoms  of  the 
beast ;  and  he  causeth,  as  far  as  he  is  able,  all 
who  will  not  acknowledge  his  supremacy  to  be 
put  to  death.  In  short,  he  is  the  most  perfect 
resemblance  of  the  ancient  Roman  emperors — 
is  as  great  a  tyrant  in  the  Christian,  as  they  were 
in  the  heathen  world — presides  in  the  same 
city,  usurps  the  same  powers,  affects  the  same 
titles,  and  requires  the  same  homage  and  ado- 
ration. So  that  the  prophecy  descends  more 
and  more  into  particulars,  from  the  Roman 
state,  or  the  ten  kingdoms  in  general,  to  the 
Roman  clergy  in  particular  ;  and  then  to  the 
pope,  the  head  of  the  state,  as  well  as  of  the 
Church,  the  king  of  kings,  as  well  as  bishop 
of  bishops.'* 

"  Here  is  wisdom.  Let  him  that  hath  un- 
derstanding count  the  number  of  the  beast ; 
for  it  is  the  number  of  a  man  ;  and  his  num- 
ber is  six  hundred  three  score  and  six." 


iS4}  Hie  Beast  [lec.  tit. 

In  the  second  century,  Irenaeus  who  had 
been  the  disciple  of  Poly  carp,  one  of  the  im- 
mediate disciples  of  the  Apostle  John,  sug- 
gested that  this  name  was  Lateinos^  a  Greek 
name,  signifying  the  Latin  man.  which  con- 
tains  the  precise  number  given,  according  to 
the  Greek  principles  of  notation.  He  esteem- 
fd  the  suggestion  the  more  probable,  because, 
said  he,  **  the  last  kingdom  is  so  called,  for 
they  are  Latins  who  now  reign."  Aiid  it  isr 
well  known  how  much,  since  the  days  of  Irenae- 
us,  the  apostate  Church  has  affected  the  Latin 
name  and  language.  He  seems  to  have  had" 
no  hesitation  on  account  of  its  being  a  Greek 
name  ;  for  the  Revelation  was  written  in  the 
Greek  language,  and  that  language  was  in  great 
use  in  tiie  Church  in  the  early  ages.  Bat 
there  is  a  very  extraordinary  coincidence  ia 
this  respect,  in  the  chief  and  distinguishing 
names  by  which  that  Church,  as  a  community, 
and  the  supreme  head  whom  they  worbhip, 
have  chosen  to  be  called.  In  Hebrew,  ia 
Greek,  and  in  Latin,  the  chief  distinguishing 
name,  in  which  they  glory,  contaiub  in  each  of 
these  languages,  the  precise  number  666.* 

*The  Hebrew  appellative  /?owz7r^,  signifying  a  ^owii/n  com- 
jnunity.the  Greek  Lutcinos,  signifying  the  Latin  n.an,  and  th«f 
Lratii)  tiV.s  ViQarlm  Ft  Hi  Dei,  Vicar  nf  the  Son  of  God,  which  i3 


with  two  Horns.  .      ib^ 

These  names  applying  both  to  the  commu- 
nity,  and  to  the  individual  head  of  the  com- 
munity, seem  to  answer  to  the  dtrscription 
staring  that  the  number  b(  longs  both  to  the 
beast,  as  a  body,  and  to  a  man,  as  the  head  of 
that  body. 

In  their  union  or  connexion,  as  both  togeth- 
er forming  one  power,  they  seem  to  have  b.  en 
represented  to  the-  Prophet  Daniel  under  the 
idea  of  a  little  horn  rising  up  among  the  ten. 
Bat  the  Apostle  John  had  a  more  distinct  rep- 
reseritation  of  the  beast,  with  two  horns  like  a 
Iamb,  making,  or  creating  a  distinct  image  of 

the  chief  distinguishing  tlile  by  which  the  Church  of  Rome 
lias  uaiversally  chosen  to  desig;nate  their  supreme  head,  the 
pope,  cxc\\  contains,  according  lo  tiie  principles  oi  uo:a;ion  ir* 
the  several  languages,  the  precise  number  666. 

THE  HEBREW.         THE  GREEK.         THE  LATIN« 

R 200        L. 30 

O .6         A 1 

M 40         T 300 


1 10  E 5 

I 10  1 10 

TH....400  N 50 

O 70 

665  S 200 

66$ 


v... 

5 

T     , 

.1 

C... 

...100 

A... 

,,.. 

Jl.- 

1..  . 

1 

U  or 

V..^ 

S    .. 

F.  ., 

T 

1 

T..., 

....50 

I 

1 

T 

.  ...  1 

13... 

.500 

E  ... 

.... 

I 

1 

66S 


156  The  Heast  [lec.  vh. 

the  fourth  beast  that  Daniel  saw,  according  td 
the  form  in  which  it  had  in  its  highest  glory- 
existed,  and  giving  life  and  efficiency  to  that 
image.  The  Apostle  Paul,  also,  has  spoken  of 
it  with  the  same  distinction,  describing  an 
apostacy  to  take  place  in  the  Church,  and  the 
consequent  revealing  of  **  that  man  of  sin,  the 
son  of  perdition." 

Even  in  the  early  ages  of  the  Church,  many- 
shewed  a  strong  inclination  to  be  called  after 
the  names  of  men  ;  and  to  have  the  Church 
united  under  some  visible  earthly  head.  And 
ambitious  men  in  the  Church,  early  began  to 
aspire  to  that  distinction  and  supremacy  for 
themselves.  This  disguised  and  deceitful 
principle,  called  by  the  Apostle  the  mystery 
of  iniquity,  began  to  work,  as  he  testifies,  even 
in  his  days.  But  the  existence  of  a  supreme 
head  in  the  Roman  dominion,  that  ruled  over 
them,  hindered  the  revealing  of  that  man  of 
sin  ;  for  the  Roman  emperors,  whether  pagan 
or  Christian,  would  never  suffer  such  an  en- 
croachment on  what  they  esteemed  their  pre- 
rogative. And  the  same  cause  continued  to 
hinder,  till  the  end  of  Justinian's  reign. 

That  emperor,  jealous  as  he  was  of  suffer- 
ing  any  but  himself  to  be  the  actual  pope  of 


with  two  Hoists.  157 

the  Roman  Church,  yet  laid  the  foundation, 
9nd  prepared  the  way  for  the  bishop  of  Rome 
to  fill  this  station.  His  code  of  laws  or  in- 
stitutes, in  regulating  the  religious  concerns  of 
the  empire,  distinctly  acknowledges  the  bishop 
of  Rome  as  the  head  of  all  the  Churches  : 
and  the  emperor  himself  sent  legates  to  him> 
as  ambassadors  to  the  court  of  a  prince. 

A  papal  supremacy  in  and  over  the  Church 
began,  in  fact,  to  be  exercised  by  Constantine. 
It  was  reduced  to  system,  and  regularly  es- 
tablished by  Justinian,  in  connexion  with  his 
supremacy  in  the  dominion  of  the  empire. 
And  when  the  Roman  dominion  was  broken  in 
the  west,  and  wounded  to  death  in  its  last  or 
seventh  head,  in  the  new  form  of  dominion 
that  arose,  this  supremacy  was  transferred  to 
the  bishop  of  Rome  ;  and  he  ruled  in  the  au- 
thority and  by  the  power  of  the  apostate 
Church — the  beast  with  two  horns  like  a 
lamb.  So  that  the  pope  was  created  for  the 
office,  rather  than  the  office  for  the  pope.-^- 
Then  was  revealed,  in  his  true  character, 
^*  That  man  of  sin,  the  son  of  perdition  ;  who 
opposeth  and  exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is 
<;^kd  God,  or  that  is  worshipped ;  so  that  he, 
O 


i5S  The  Beast  [lec.  vm 

as  God,  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing 
himself  that  he  is  God.'*— (ii.  T/iess.  2d 
chapter.) 

It  was  a  specious  pretext,  as  there  is  un- 
questionabl}^  in  the  true  Christian  Churchy 
*'  One  Lord — one  faith — one  baptism,"  that 
there  should  also  be  one  visible  head  of  the 
Church  on  earth,  and  that  under  him,  all 
should  hold  the  same  f^ith,  and  be  united  and 
conformed  together  in  the  same  sentiments, 
and  external  forms  of  religion.  But  this  vit/s- 
tery  of  iniquity  arrogated  for  ambitious  and 
wicked  man,  a  prerogative  that  belongs  to 
Christ  alone  ;  and  vainly  sought  to  constrain 
and  direct  the  minds  of  men,  by  exercising  a 
tyrannical  authority,  and  a  torturing  dominion 
over  their  bodies.  The  Creator,  as  intending 
the  rational  mind  shall  be  free,  and  subject  to 
no  direct  authority  but  his  own,  has  formed  it 
inaccessible  by  all  direct  exercise  of  power 
short  of  on^nipot^nce.  And  the  only  efficient 
and  honest  infjuenpe  of  man  with  man,  that 
our  rational  nature  admits,  is  that  of  argument 
and  persuasion.  But  the  wicked  pride  and  the 
pernicious  ambition  of  men,  are  ever  prompt- 
ing them  to  assume  the  place  of  God,  and 
tvrannize  over  the  minds  of  their  feilow-men? 


tvith  two  Horns.  159 

They  persuade  themselves  that  they  serve  God, 
when  they,  by  their  power  and  authority,  con* 
strain  others  to  put  on  the  appearance  of  serv- 
ing him  ;  and  that  they  promote  the  unity  of 
the  Church,  when  they  attempt  to  make  others 
think  just  as  they  do  in  religious  matters. 
And  as  this  is  a  kind  of  service  congenial  with 
their  native  tempers,  they  delight  and  glory  in 
acts  of  uniformity,  and  formulas,  and  creeds 
sanctioned  by  civil  penalties.  To  enforce 
these,  seems  the  very  life  and  spirit  of  all  their 
religion. 

The  time  approaches,  however,  when  the 
operation  of  this  mystery  of  iniquity  will  be 
no  longer  permiited  to  rule  the  destinies  of 
the  Church,  and  destroy  the  souls  of  men. 
Especially,  that  great  system  of  it,  which  has 
so  long  prevailed  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  shall 
come  to  its  end  with  its  chief  production,  **  the 
man  of  sin — that  Wicked  whom  the  Lord 
shall  consume  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth, 
and  shall  destroy  v/ith  the  brightness  of  his 
coming," 


LECTURE  Vin. 


t      1 


LE  CTUB.E  VIII 


The  Harvest  and  the  Vintage, 


EEVELATION  xiv.  1. 

*'  And  I  looked^  and^   lo^  a  Lamb  stood  on  the  mount 
Sion^   and  xvith   him   an  hundred  forty  and  four 
thousand^  having  his  Father's  name  written  in  their 
foreheads*^ 

An  the  two  preceding  Visions,  the 
Apostle  had  witnessed  representations  of  the 
hatred  and  persecutions  of  the  adversary,  and 
of  the  agents  by  whose  instrumentality  be  op- 
presses and  alRicts  the  servants  of  Christ.  In 
this,  he  was  called  to  witness  the  triumph  of 
Christ,  and  the  utter  destruction  of  the  oppres- 
sors of  his  people. 

The  vision  opens  xvith  a  triumphant  view  of 
the  purchase  of  Christ's  blood,  in  the  redeem- 
ed of  the  seed  of  Abraham  his  friend,  and  of 
the  glorious  efficacy  of  his  Gospel,  preached 


I6li  The  Ilavvesi        [p^c.  viri. 

to  *'  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every 
nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people." 

This  opening  of  the  vision  necessarily  turns 
our  thoughts  back,  to  what  is  recorded  in  the 
7th  chapter  of  the  book.  There  the  Apostle 
describes,  among  the  events  disclosed  by  the 
opening  of  the  sixth  seal,  "  Four  angels  stand* 
ing  on  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  holding 
the  four  winds  of  the  earth,  that  the  wind 
should  not  blow  on  the  earth,  nor  on  the  sea, 
nor  on  any  tree  :"  while  another  angel,  having 
the  seal  of  the  living  God,  is  employed  in  seal* 
ing  the  servants  of  God  in  their  foreheads^^ 
"  And  there  were  sealed  one  hundred  forty 
and  four  thousand  of  all  the  tribes  of  the  chiU 
dren  of  Israel.  And  after  this,  a  great  multi- 
tude which  no  man  could  number,  of  all  na^ 
tions,  and  kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues, 
stood  before  the  throne,  and  before  the  Lamb.'? 
The  same  hundred  forty  and  four  thousand, 
and  the  same  multitude  of  all  nations,  xm^ 
kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues,  are  here 
again  brought  into  view  in  this  vision. 

I  have  considered  the  7th  chapter,  as  pre* 
dieting  the  restoration  of  the  seed  of  Abraham-^ 
the  gathering  of  the  dispersed  of  Israel  to  the 
true  shepherd  and  bishop  of  their  souls,  and 


and  the  Vintage.  163 

the  consequent  glorious  success  of  the  Gospel 
among  the  nations  of  men  :  events  that  are  of- 
ten spoken  of  and  promised  in  the  sacred 
volume.  And  I  have  supposed,  that  while  the 
events  comprised  under  the  sixth  seal  are  ac* 
€omplishing,  and  the  last  indignation  against 
the  oppressors  of  the  servants  of  Christ  is 
taking  its  effect  on  the  nations,  there  shall  yet 
be  a  delay,  in  some  period  of  that  time,  proba* 
bly  just  before  the  final  consummation,  when 
these  hundred  forty  and  four  thousand  shall  be 
sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  living  God,  in  their 
foreheads ;  and  that,  consequent  to  this,  the 
countless  multitude  of  the  nations,  and  kin- 
dreds, and  tongues,  and  people,  shall  come 
and  stand  with  acceptance  before  the  Lamb. 
Accordingly,  in  this  vision,  before  the  Apostle 
witnessed  the  final  destruction  of  the  enemies 
of  Christ,  there  appeared,  standing  on  the 
mount  Sion,  that  is  in  the  true  Church  of  God, 
which,  on  this  occasion,  begins  to  be  revealed 
in  its  true  glory,  '*  A  lamb,  and  with  him  an 
hundred  forty  and  four  thousand,  having  his 
father's  name  written  in  their  foreheads. 

"  And  they  sung,  as  it  were,  a  new  song  be- 
fore the  throne,  and  before  the  four  living 
creatures,  and  the  elders  ;  and  no  man  could 


166  The  Harvest        [LtO.  vm. 

learn  that  song  but  the  hundred  forty  and  four 
thousand  that  were  redeemed  from  the  earth." 

It  is  twice  repeated  in  the  Psalms,  *'  Oh 
that  the  salvation  of  Israel  were  come  out  of 
Zion  !  When  the  Lord  bringeth  back  the  cap- 
tivity of  his  people,  Jacob  shall  rejoice  and  Is- , 
rael  shall  be  glad." 

It  will  indeed  be  a  new  song  of  praises  tOv 
the  Redeemer  that  shall  be  sung  on  that  occa-, 
sion  ;  and  being  suited  to  the  case  of  the  dis- 
persed of  Israel,  when  the  Lord  shall  bring: 
back  the  captivity  of  Jacob,  it  will  be  peculiar-, 
to  them,  and  no  man  will  be  able  to  sing  it,  in, 
the  same  appropriate  sentiments  and  feelings,, 
but  the  hundred  forty  and  four  thousand  o£ 
those  redeemed. 

These  are  they,  that  have  never  been  defiled 
with   spiritual    svhoredoms — that   have   never 
partaken  in  the  idolatries   of  those  that  have  , 
apostatized  from  Christian  faith  and  morals-. 
They  come  to  Christ,  in  this  respect,  as  vir.; 
gins:  and  are  the  first  fruits  unto  God  and: 
unto  the  I^amb,   of  a  glorious  ingathering  of 
such  as  shall  follow  the  Lamb  whithersover  he> 
goeth,  without  any  mixture  of  pagan  philoso-  , 
phy  or  human  traditions,  or  superstitions,  in 
♦heir  belief  and  practice  of  Christianity. 


and  the  Vintage.  16? 

5^  The  Apostles  and  primitive  Christians,  after 
they  received  the  promise  of  the  Father  in  the 
Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven,  had,  I 
suppose,  more  just  and  clearer  views  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  and  exhibited  more  of  the  Chris- 
tian spirit  and  temper  in  their  life  and  n manners, 
than  has,  since  their  days,  ever  been  witnessed 
generally  in  the  Church.  In  the  mysteries  uf  his 
providence,  God  has  been  pleased  to  suffer  the 
passions,  the  weaknesses,  and  the  ignorance  of 
men,  to  bring  into  the  church  many  corrupt 
tions,  and  errors,  and  superstitions  :  And  al- 
though there  have  been  great  and  good  refor- 
mations, it  is,  1  think,  evident  that  none  of  them 
ever  brought  christians,  of  later  days,  back  to 
the  Apostolic  standard.  However  zve  may 
congratulate  ourselves,  on  the  light,  ar.d  knowl- 
edge, and  christian  sentiment  and  practice,  that 
abound  in  the  phurch,  in  our  days  ;  it  is  yet 
not  one  of  the  least  of  the  mysteries  oi  God's 
providence  over  his  church,  that,  to  this  hour^ 
the  paijsions,  and  the  prejudices,  and  the  un- 
hallowed speculations  of  men  are  suffered  so  to 
discolour  and  cloud  the  truth,  and  to  pervert 
and  abuse  the  piire  doctrine  of  Christ  :  And 
that,  what  we  esteem  a  sincere  and  honest  be- 
lief of  the  christian  religion,   i§  for  the  inogt 


168  The  Harvest        [ivEC.  yiu, 

part  so  powerless  over  our  hearts,  and  has  so 
feeble,  and  so  unsteady  an  influence  on  our 
principles  and  manners. 

But  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh 
angel,  when  he  shall  begin  to  sound,  this  mys* 
tery  of  God  also  shall  be  finished.  Then,  not 
only  here  and  there,  once  in  an  age,  shall  there  a 
Nathaniel  to  be  met  with,  *'An  Israelite  indeed, 
in  whom  there  is  no  guile ;"  but  the  whole 
company  of  these  redeemed  will  be  followers 
of  the  Lamb,  in  the  true  spirit  of  discipleship, 
and  in  their  mouth  will  be  found  no  guile  ;  for 
they  will,  in  this  respect,  be  without  fault  be? 
fore  the  throne  of  God,  Coming  to  Christ  a^ 
virgins  not  polluted  with  any  of  those  world- 
ly or  heathenish  sentiments  and  maxims,  by 
which  the  profession  of  Christianity  has  been 
so  much  and  so  long  debased,  they  will  give 
an  exhibition  of  the  power  and  the  purity  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ,  that  will  propably  astonish 
and  confound  many,  that  now  rank  high  in  the 
Christian  church.  The  promise  of  God  {Ezek^ 
xxxvi.  25)  concerning  them  is,  *•  Then  will 
I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be 
clean  ;  from  all  your  filthiness,  and  from  all 
your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you.  And  I  will  put 
jny  spirit  within  you,  and  cause  you  to  w^l^  i^ 


and  the  Vintage.  169 

my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  my  judgments 
and  do  them.  I  will  also  save  you  from  all 
your  uncleanessesJ'  "  These  are  the  first 
fruits  unto  God  and  to  the  Lamb."  And  when 
they  appear  and  stand  on  the  mount  Sion,  as 
trophies  of  the  grace  and  power  of  Christ, 
then  the  three  angels,  in  quick  succession, 
make  their  several  public  and  solemn  procla- 
mations, as  is  represented  in  the  vision. 

"  And  I  saw  another  angel  fly  in  the  midst 
of  heaven."  There  seems  no  reason  for  this 
bein^  called  another  angel,  without  referring  to 
the  7th  chapter,  and  considering  the  opening 
of  this  vision  as  presenting  the  same  scene  as  is 
there  recorded.  It  was  another  angel  succeed- 
ing the  one  that  sealed  the  redeemed  of  the 
twelve  tribes.  And  as  he  ascended  from  the 
east,  with  a  special  and  particular  commission, 
so  this  one  was  seen  to  fly  in  the  midst  of 
heaven,  as  executing  a  commission  of  a  more 
general  tenor,  and  of  a  more  extensive  appli- 
cation— '*  Having  the  everlasting  Gospel  to 
preach  unto  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and 
to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and 
people.** 

His  commission  relates  to  the  great  mul- 
titude, which  no  man  could  number,  of  all 
P 


170  The  Harvest       [lec.  viii, 

nations,  and  kindred,  and  people,  and  tongues, 
which,  on  a  fornner  occasion,  the  Apostle  saw 
stand  before  the  throne,  and  before  the  Lamb, 
clothed  with  white  robes  and  palms  in  their 
hands. 

The  missionary  spirit,  manifested  in  the  so* 
cieties  formed  for  missionary  purposes,  and  by 
a  very  few  individuals,  who  have  consecrated 
themselves  to  the  work  of  missionaries,  and 
the  disposition  to  multiply  and  distribute  copies 
of  the  sacred  scriptures,  that  have  distinguish- 
ed the  present  age,  seem  to  be  hopeful  essays 
toward  the  fulfilling  of  this  part  of  the  vision. 
But  while  this  spirit  and  these  efforts  fall  so  far  as 
they  do  below  what  even  sectarian  feelings  and 
efforts  usually  are,  for  vigor  of  pursuit  and  de- 
votedness  to  their  object,  and  indeed  so  far  be- 
low what  has  been  often  exhibited  even  by  an 
apostate  Church  to  proselyte  to  its  commun^ 
ion,  they  are  destitute,  in  a  very  great  measure, 
of  that  Apostolic  spirit  and  character,  which 
sffc  essential  to  the  accomplishing  of  the  work* 
When  Christians  generally  shall  begin  to  feel 
the  obligations  they  are  under,  to  hold  them- 
selves personally,  and  all  they  possess  and  en- 
joy, honestly  devoted  to  serve  God  in  the 
Gospel  of  his  Son,  and  shall  keep  back  nothing 


and  the  Vintage ,  17 i 

that  could  be  profitable  to  this  service,  then  will 
the  everlasting  Gospel  speedily  be  preached, 
unto  theni  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every 
nation,  and  tongue,  and  people.  But  this  they 
will  probably  not  feel,  till  they  shall  be  per- 
suaded that  the  hour  of  his  judgment  is  come. 
This  therefore  will  be  the  subject  of  the  an- 
gel's proclamation,  as  he  flies  through  the 
midst  of  heaven,  **  Saying  with  a  loud  voice, 
Fear  God,  and  give  glory  to  him  ;  for  the 
hour  of  his  judgment  is  come*'* 

Christians  will  then  be  constrained  no  lon- 
ger to  glory  in  men,  and  range  themselves  in 
sects  under  the  names  of  men.  Nor  must 
they  any  more  do  homage  to  the  petty  perisli- 
ing  claimants  of  the  earth  and  of  the  sea,  but 
"  Worship  him  who  made  heaven,  and  earthy 
and  the  sea,  and  the  fountains  of  waters." 

When  the  sealing  of  the  servants  of  God 
shall  be  completed,  and  the  four  angels,  stand- 
ing on  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  shall  no 
longer  restrain  the  tempests  of  wrath,  the  hour 
of  God's  judgment  being  then  come,  it  will 
begin  to  take  effect,  first  on  great  Babylon. 
This  is  the  subject  of  the  proclamation  of 
the  second  angel,  who  is  represented  as  follow- 
ing the  angel  that  was  seen  to  fly  in  the  midst 


i7M>  The  Harvest         i.ec.  viii. 

of  heaven,  proclaiming  the  hour  of  judgment 
to  be  come. 

*'  And  there  followed  another  angel,  saying, 
Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen,  that  great  city,  be- 
cause she  made  all  nations  drink  of  the  wine 
of  the  wrath  of  her  fornication." 

As  this  will  be  an  event  of  great  nUerest, 
the  Apostle  was  afterward  instructed,  in  a 
distinct  and  separate  vision,  on  this  subject, 
which  is  recorded  in  the  17th  and  18  th  chap- 
ters of  the  book.  It  will  be,  however,  only 
the  beginning  of  those  final  judgments,  ia 
which  Christ  will  gloriously  triumph  in  the 
utter  destruction  of  all  the  oppressors  of  his 
people.  But  there  will  be  an  awful  rapidity  in 
the  succession  in  which  the  rest  will  follow. 
Having  begun,  *'  He  will  finish  the  work,  and 
cut  it  short  in  righteousness  ;  because  a  short 
work  will  the  Lord  make  upon  the  earth." 
Accordingly,  the  proclamation  of  the  third  an- 
gel immediately  follows,  warning  men  that  the 
Judge  is  at  hand,  and  that  he  comes  with  a 
purpose  of  judgment,  no  longer  to  be  delayed. 

**  And  the  third  angel  followed  them,  saying 
with  a  loud  voice,  If  any  man  worship  the 
beast  and  his  image,  and  receive  his  mark  ia 
his  forehead  or  in  his  hand, 


and  the  Vintage.  lys 

<*  The  same  shall  drink  of  the  wine  of  the 
wrath  of  God,  which  is  poured  out  without 
mixture  into  the  cup  of  his  indignation  ;  and 
he  shall  be  tormented  with  fire  and  brimstone 
in  the  presence  of  the  holy  angels,  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  Lamb  : 

''  And  the  smoke  of  their  torment  ascend- 
eth  up  forever  and  ever  ;  and  they  have  no 
rest  day  nor  night  who  worship  the  beast  and 
his  image,  and  whosoever  receiveth  the  mark 
of  his  name." 

The  Apostle  Paul,  preaching  to  tlie  men  of 
Athens,  and  speakmg  of  the  times  past,  when 
God  '*  suffered  all  nations  to  walk  in  their  own 
ways,"  says,  **  And  the  times  of  this  igno- 
rance God  winked  at ;  but  now  commandeth 
all  men  every  where  to  repent :  because  he 
hath  appointed  a  day,  in  the  which  he  will 
judge  the  world  in  righteousness,  by  that  man 
whom  he  hath  ordained  :  whereof,  he  hath 
given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that  he  hath 
raised  him  from  the  dead." 

God  has  indeed  never  left  himself  without 
witness  among  the  children  of  men  ;  so  that 
they  are  always  without  excuse,  if  they  do  not 
fear  and  obey  him.  Yet  charity  constrains  us 
to  believe,  there  may  have  been  good  and 

?2 


174  The  Harvest        [lec.  viii. 

pious  people,  who  have  yet,  unwittingly,  borne 
the  mark  of  the  beast  and  of  his  image.  This, 
with  other  mysteries  of  his  providence,  God 
has  suffered.  But  when  the  seventh  trumpet 
shall  begin  to  sound,  this  mystery  shall  be 
finished.  A  proclamation  will  be  made,  for 
all  that  fear  God,  to  separate  themselves  from 
them  ;  and  this  will  bd  enforced,  by  the  dread- 
ful warning  here  recorded  :  and  whoever  they 
may  be,  that  after  this  shall  continue  attached 
to  the  beast  and  to  his  image,  hope  and  charity 
must  leave  them  forever. 

**  Here  is  the  patience  of  the  saints  :  here 
are  they  that  keep  the  commandments  of  God, 
and  the  faith  of  Jesus." 

Men  shall  then  return  and  discern  between 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked ;  between  him 
that  serveth  God  and  him  that  serveth  him 
not.  The  faith  and  patience  of  the  saints  shall 
no  longer  be  subjected  to  those  severe  trials, 
which  the  ungodliness  of  men  in  every  age, 
has  one  way  and  another  occasioned.  The 
great  issue  will  then  begin  to  be  revealed,  ac- 
cording as  they  have  believed  in  God,  and 
have  kept  the  word  of  Christ's  patience  ;  and 
he  will  keep  them  from  the  hour  of  temptation, 
which  shall  come  upon  all  the  world,  to  try 


and  the  Vintage,  175 

them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth.  For  at  that 
time,  when  Michael  shall  stand  up,  the  great 
prince  that  standeth  for  the  children  of  the 
people  of  Israel,  there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble, 
such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation, 
even  to  that  same  time. — {Daniel  xii.  1.) 

The  saints  will,  of  necessity,  be  more  or 
less  involved  in  this  perplexity  and  distress  of 
nations  ;  but  they  shall  be  delivered,  every 
©ne  that  shall  be  found  written  in  the  book. 
The  effect  of  the  trial  on  them  shall  be  only  as 
the  refiner's  fire,  to  purify  them,  and  to  make 
them  white. 

It  was,  I  suppose,  with  reference  to  this, 
that  the  voice  from  heaven  proclaimed,  "  Bles- 
sed are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from 
henceforth." 

When  the  Apostle  had  heard  the  warning 
voice  of  the  third  angel,  and  the  awful  scenes 
of  the  harvest  and  the  vintage  were  ready  to 
be  revealed,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  mo- 
mentary suspension  of  the  prophetic  scenes 
that  were  passing  before  him  ;  and  he  heard  a 
voiee  from  heaven,  for  the  support  and  conso- 
lation of  the  servants  of  Christ  amidst  the 
fearful  scenes  and  the  awful  terrors  of  those 
days,  '*  Saying,  Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die 


173  The  Harvest        [lkc.  \ui. 

in  the  Lord  from  henceforth.'*  And  the  Holy 
Spirit,  before  proceeding  with  his  prophetic 
representations,  adds  the  confirmation,  "  Yea, 
saith  the  Spirit  ;  that  they  may  rest  from  their 
labors  ;  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 
There  seems  in  this,  a  reference  to  that  in  the 
57th  chapter  of  Isaiah — **The  righteous  perish- 
eth,  and  no  man  layeth  it  to  heart,  and  merciful 
men  are  taken  away,  none  considering  that  the 
righteous  are  taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come. 
He  shall  enter  into  peace  :  they  shall  rest  in 
their  beds,  each  one  walking  in  his  upright- 
ness.'' The  prophetic  Spirit  had  said,  on  a  for- 
mer occasion, (C/io/?".  ix.6,)  *'In  those  days  shall 
men  seek  death,  and  shall  not  find  it  ;  and 
shall  desire  to  die,  and  death  shall  flee  from 
them."  In  both  these  cases,  reference  is  had 
to  the  calamitous  events,  and  the  distress- 
ing circumstances  of  the  times.  But  there  is 
a  wide  difference  in  the  character  and  circum- 
stances of  the  persons,  who  are  the  subjects  of 
these  two  parts  of  the  sacred  word.  Those  in 
the  9th  chapter,  under  the  pains  and  suffering  of 
the  righteous  judgnnents  of  God  for  their  in- 
iquities, are  described  as  seeking  in  mad  despair 
for  any  refuge,  even  in  death  itself,  from  the 
present  power  and  weight  of  their  sufferings. 


and  the  Vintage,  177 

But  In  this  place,  they  are  represented  as  taken 
by  their  Lord  and  Saviour  from  the  fury  of  a 
wicked  and  malicious  world,  whose  hour  of 
judgment  is  come,  to  enter  into  their  rest,  and 
cease  from  all  their  toils  and  sorrows. 

Immediately  after  this,  the  Apostle  beheld 
the  majestic  appearance  of  the  great  Judge  of 
quick  and  dead,  come  forth  to  separate  be- 
tween the  wheat  and  the  tares. 

**  And  I  looked,  and,  behold,  a  white  cloud, 
and  upon  the  cloud  one  sat  like  unto  the  sou 
of  man,  having  on  his  head  a  golden  crown^, 
and  in  his  hand  a  sharp  sickle. 

**  And  another  angel  came  out  of  the  temple, 
crying  with  a  loud  voice  to  him  that  sat  on  the 
cloud,  Thrust  in  thy  sickle  and  reap  ;  for  the 
time  is  come  for  thee  to  reap  ;  for  the  harvest 
of  the  earth  is  ripe. 

'*  And  he  that  sat  on  the  cloud  thrust  in  his 
sickle  on  the  earth  :  and  the  earth  was  reaped.'' 

In  explaining  the  parable  of  the  wheat  and 
the  tares,  Christ  said,  *^  The  harvest  is  the  end 
of  the  world." 

On  the  same  principles,  it  may  be  under- 
stood to  mean  the  end  of  any  particular  state 
of  discipline  in  his  providence,  when  he  pleases 
to  bring  it  to  a  conclusion.     But  it  cannot 


178  Tiie  Ilarvesi         [lec.  viit. 

inteod  any  thing  less  :  and  it  implies  the  ideas 
of  a  day  of  reckoning,  of  separation,  and  of 
retribution. 

The  harvest,  here  spoken  of,  is  like  that 
concerning  Babylon,  (Jer.  li.  33  )  *'  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  the 
daughter  of  Babylon  is  like  a  threshing-floor, 
it  is  time  to  thresh  her ;  yfet  a  little  while,  and 
the  time  of  her  harvest  shall  come."  And  it 
is,  probably,  the  very  same  that  is  prophesied 
of,  (Joel  iii.  13,)  *'Let  the  heathen  be  wa- 
kened, and  come  up  to  the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat  ;  for  there  will  1  sit  to  judge  all  the 
heathen  round  about." 

"  Put  ye  in  the  sickle  ;  for  the  harvest  is  ripe  ; 
come,  get  you  down  ;  for  the  press  is  full,  the 
vats  overflow  ;  for  their  wickedness  is  great. 

*'  Multitudes,  multitudes  in  the  valley  of  de« 
cision  ;  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  near  in  the 
valley  of  decision." 

Here,  both  the  harvest  and  the  vintage  are 
introduced  to  represent  God's  purpose  of 
judgment  and  retribution — "  For  their  wick- 
edness is  great." 

iSo  also  in  this  vision  that  the  Apostle  saw, 
after  the  harvest,  succeeds  also  the  vintage. 


and  the  Vintage.  1^9 

"  And  another  angel  came  out  of  the  temple 
which  is  in  heaven,  he  also  having  a  sharp 
sickle. 

**  And  another  angel  came  out  from  the 
altar,  which  had  power  over  fire  ;  and  cried 
with  a  loud  cry  to  him  that  had  the  sharp 
sickle,  saying,  Thrust  in  thy  sharp  sickle,  and 
gather  the  clusters  of  the  vine  of  the  earth  ; 
for  her  grapes  are  fully  ripe. 

"  And  the  angel  thrust  in  his  sickle  into  the 
earth,  and  gathered  the  vine  of  the  earth,  and 
cast  it  into  the  great  wine-press  of  the  wrath  of 
God  " 

The  Vine,  as  an  emblem,  was  originally 
used  to  designate  the  true  Church  of  God. 
But  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  (ii.  21.)  God  re- 
bukes the  apostacy  of  his  people,  saying,  **  I 
had  planted  thee  a  noble  vine,  wholly  a  right 
seed  :  how  then  art  thou  turned  into  the  degen- 
erate plant  of  a  strange  vine  unto  me  ?"  So  also 
by  Isaiah,  ii.  4 — "  What  could  have  been  done 
more  to  my  vineyard,  that  I  have  not  done  ia 
it?  Wherefore,  when  1  looked  that  it  should 
bring  forth  grapes,  brought  it  forth  wild 
grapes?'*  And  again,  (Z)c/if.  xxxli  32  )-^ 
"  Their  vine  is  of  the  vine  of  Sodom,  and  of 
the  fields   of   Gomorrah  ;    their  grapes  are 


180  The  Harvest        [lec.  tux. 

grapes  of  gall,  their  clusters  are  bitter ;  their 
wine  is  the  poison  of  dragons,  and  the  cruel 
venom  of  asps."  And  according  to  what  the 
Apostle  saw  and  heard  in  this  place,  the  vine 
of  the  earth  is  to  be  gathered,  and  cast  into 
the  great  vvine.pres$  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
This  vintage,  therefore,  1  think,  evidently  in- 
tends, the  exttrminating  judgments  which 
shall  be  executed  upon  an  apostate  Church  ; 
and  the  dreadful  vengeance  Christ  will  take 
on  them  that  have  prostituted  the  profession 
of  his  Gospel,  and  his  name,  to  the  purposes 
of  their  own  aggrandizeinent  and  self-will,  at 
the  expense  of  the  blood  of  his  martyrs,  and 
the  suppression  of  his  truth. 

The  harvest  seems  of  a  more  general  na- 
ture ;  but  the  vintage  particular  and  apprppri. 
ate  to  the  apostate  Church. 

They  seem  to  be  very  nearly  connected,  and 
may,  probably,  be  both  accomplished  at  the 
same  time,  and  in  a  great  measure  by  the  same  » 
events.  For  the  harvest  seems  to  intend  the 
bringing  to  dissolution,  in  an  utter  extinction, 
the  anti-christian  dominions  of  the  earth  iti 
general  ;  or,  perhaps,  especially  those  of  civil, 
or  secular  policy  :  And  the  vintage  a  like  demo« 
lition  oi  aiiti«christian  ecclesiastical  institutions 


and  the  Vintage.  18  i 

and  authorities.  Whatever  may  be  the  precise 
dibtinction  between  them,  1  think  it  unques. 
tionable,  that  both  together,  they  unequivocally 
predict  an  entire  subversion  of  all  anti-christiaa 
usurpation  and  authority,  in  both  Church  and 
State  ;  and  a  day  of  reckoning,  and  of  terrible 
retributions,  for  the  adversaries  of  Christ,  and 
the  oppressors  and  persecutors  of  his  servants. 
The  same  judgment  and  retribution,  with  a 
view  of  the  preparatory  process  for  the  intro- 
duction of  them, are  more  specifically  predicted 
in  the  next  vision,  under  the  idea  of  the  seven 
golden  vials  full  of  the  wrath  of  God,  and 
poured  out  by  the  **  seven  angels  having  the 
seven  last  plagues  ;  for  in  them  is  filled  up 
the  wrath  of  God."  And  yet  again  more  ex- 
pressly, in  the  description  of  **  the  batde  of 
that  great  day  of  God  Almighty,"  when  he 
that  shall  rule  all  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron, 
shall  **  tread  the  wine-press  of  the  fierceness 
and  wrath  of  Almighty ^God.'* 


LECTURE  IX, 


LECTURE  IX. 


The  Vision  of  the  Vials, 


REVELATION  xv.  1. 

*'  And  I  saw  another  sign  in  heaven^  great  and  mat'^ 
vellousy  seven  angels  having  the  seven  last  plagues 4 
for  in  them  isfiUed  up  the  wrath  of  God.'* 

A  HIS  sign,  from  the  terms  in  which  k 
is  described,  evidently  relates  to  the  last  period 
of  that  twelve  hundred  and  si^ty  years,  ia 
which  the  sanctuary  is  given  to  be  trodden 
^nder  foot  of  the  Gentiles. 

The  vision  contains  a  representation  of  the 
means,  and  of  the  several  successive  judgments, 
by  which  the  anti-christian  powers  will  be  de- 
stroyed, and  a  way  prepared  for  tlie  saints  of  the 
Most  High  to  take  the  kingdom.  It  is  one  of 
those  particular  and  detailed  representations,  by 
which  the  general  view, exhibited  at  the  opening 
of  the  seals^  is  filled  up  :  and  is  to  be  rar^kedi 
^2 


186  The  Vision  [lec.  ix. 

under  the  sixth  seal.  It  cannot,  I  think,  be 
comprehended  under  the  seventh  trumpet,  as 
has  commonly  been  supposed  ;  for  the  oath  of 
the  Almighty  has  proclaimed  that  time  shall 
then  be  no  longer,  but  in  the  days  of  the  voice 
of  the  seventh  angel,  when  he  shall  begin  to 
sound,  the  mystery  of  God  shall  be  finished. 
This  vision,  no  doubt,  extends  to  the  last  in- 
dignation. And  the  first  six  vials  prepare  the 
way  for  the  sounding  of  the  last  trumpet. 

The  pouring  out  of  the  seventh  vial,  will, 
therefore,  coincide  with  the  sounding  of  the 
seventh  trumpet,  and  constitute  the  judgments, 
by  which  the  mystery  of  God  will  be  finished. 

In  the  preceding  vision,  the  Apostle  had 
witnessed  a  representation  of  the  concluding 
scenes  of  this  period,  both  in  the  triumphs  of 
grace,  and  in  the  execution  of  a  righteous 
vengeance,  accomplishing  the  destruction  of 
the  enemies  of  Christ.  In  this  vision,  he  is 
led  back  to  view  the  several  steps,  by  which 
the  way  wrll  be  prepared,  and  these  scenes  in- 
troduced. 

These  judgments,  from  their  nature,  and 
their  relation  to  each  other,  and  to  the  great 
filial  consummation,  would  seem  as  though 
they  mubt  foiiovv  each  other  in  quick  succes- 


of  the  Vials.  187 

sion  :  and  the  description  of  them  in  the  text 
determines  that  this  will  be  the  case.  They 
are  **  the  seven  last  plagues ;  for  in  them  is 
filled  up  the  wrath  of  God.'*  All  the  intima- 
tions, given  us  in  the  scriptures  of  those  judg- 
ments, by  which  the  final  destruction  of  the 
enemies  of  Christ's  kingdom  on  earth  shall  be 
accomplished,  seem  distinctly  to  imply,  that 
the  vengeance  taken  in  them,  will  be  speedy, 
and  that  the  Lord  will  hasten  his  work  in  his 
time  ;  '*  for  a  short  work  will  the  Lord  make 
upon  the  earth." 

Accompanying  this  sign,   the  Apostle  saw 
also  a  representation  of  the  condition  and  feel- 
ings of  the  true  servants  of  Christ,  during  the 
-^.execution  of  these  last  plagues.     Standing  on 
a  foundation,  supported  by  no  earthly  consti- 
tutions, and  continually  sending  forth  the  fire 
of  God's  judgments,  they  seem,  according  to 
human  calculations,  to  rest  upon  a  fragile  and 
slippery  support,  in  the  midst  of  awful  judg- 
ments and  desolations  ;  as  though  they  stood 
upon  a  sea  of  glass  mingled  with  fire.    But  kept 
by  the  power  of  God,  through  faith,  unto  sal- 
vation, they  sing  the  song  of  Moses  and  the 
Lamb;    expecting,  with    full   assurance,   the 
speedy  accomplijsliing  of  all  the  good  things 


188  The  Vision  [lec.  ix. 

spoken  concerning  Zson  ;  and  beholding,  in 
the  surrounding  desolations,  the  true  and 
righteous  judgments  of  the  King  of  Saints. 
To  their  faith,  "  the  temple  of  the  tabernacle 
of  the  testimony  in  heaven  is  opened  :"  and 
from  the  light  of  God's  word,  and  the  testU 
mony  of  his  covenant,  they  see  the  approach  of 
that  blissful  state  of  the  Church,  which  is  so 
much  the  object  of  their  desires.  But  by 
reason  of  the  smoke  from  the  glory  of  God, 
and  from  his  power,  no  man  will  be  able  to  en- 
ter into  that  state,  till  the  seven  plagues  of  the 
seven  angels  are  fulfilled*  In  this  condition, 
and  with  these  feelings  and  expectations,  in 
the  midst  of  many  and  great  temptations,  the 
true  servants  of  Christ  wait  for  his  salvation, 
while  the  last  indignation  is  accomplishing  up- 
4dn  them  that  destroy  the  earth. 

*'  The  first  angel  poured  out  his  vial  upoa 
the  earth  ;  and  there  fell  a  noisome  and  griev- 
ous sore  upon  the  men  which  had  the  mark  of 
the  beast,  and  upon  them  which  worshipped 
his  image." 

This  has,  by  several  late  commentators, 
been  understood  as  predicting  the  breaking  out 
of  that  great  moral  putrefaction,  which  prepared 
the  way, and  introduced  those  awful  convulsiojis 


of  the  Vials.  189 

tvhich,  five  and  twenty  years  ago,  began  to  in* 
dicate  the  approaching  dissolution  of  the  body 
politic,  in  the  dominion  of  the  beasts  of  the 
earth.  The  explanation  seems  precisely  t© 
accord  with  the  order  and  progress  of  the  pro- 
phetic visions,  and  to  be  consistent  with  the 
general  manner  and  spirit  of  the  representa- 
tions contained  in  the  book;  I  therefore  know 
of  no  reason,  why  it  may  not  safely  be  adopted. 

**  And  the  second  angel  poured  out  his  vial 
upon  the  sea^  and  it  became  as  the  blood  of  a 
Jead  man  ;  and  every  living  soul  died  in  the 
sea." 

When  the  bonds  of  social  order,  and  of  mor« 
al  obligations  were  loosened,  or  shaken  off,  the 
population  of  the  kingdom  of  the  beast  became 
unsettled  and  agitated  like  the  sea  :  And  the 
vial  of  God's  wrath  being  poured  out  upon 
them  in  that  situation,  scenes  of  blood  and 
carnage  desolated  the  dominion,  and  that  tu- 
multuous sea  became  as  the  blood  of  a  dead 
man. 

*'And  the  third  angel  poured  out  his  vial 
upon  th€  rivers  and  fountains  of  waters  ;  and 
they  became  blood." 

By  **  the  rivers  and  fountains  of  waters"  are 
intended,   those  who  **have  shed  the  blood  of 


i90  The  Vision  lec.  ix. 

saints  and  prophets  :"  and  the  angel  of  the 
waters,  and  another  angel  out  of  the  altar,  unite 
to  praise  God's  righteous  judgments  upon 
them. 

The  symbol  requires,  that  this  should  be  ap- 
plied to  the  spiritual  rulers  and  teachers  of 
the  apostate  Church  ;  and  the  history  of  late 
events  furnishes  abundant  record  of  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  prophecy,  in  this  application  of  it, 

**  And  the  fourth  angel  poured  out  his  vial 
upon  the  sun ;  and  power  was  given  unto  him 
to  scorch  men  with  fire." 

The  events  of  the  three  preceding  vials, 
greatly  awakened  the  jealousy  and  the  wrath  of 
the  ruling  powers  within  the  dominion  of  the 
beast  ;  and,  to  support  their  tottering  thrones, 
they  grasped  at  an  authority,  subjecting  the 
lives  and  possessions  of  their  people  to  the 
most  lavish  and  unbounded  expense  of  blood 
and  of  treasure;  "And  men  were  scorched  with 
great  heat."  They  were  consumed  by  this 
absolute  and  unlimited  exercise  of  authority 
and  power  over  them.  Yet  so  much  did 
madness  and  raging  passions  prevail,  that  they 
*'  blasphemed  the  name  of  God,  which  hath 
power  over  these  plas^ues  :  and  they  repented 
not  to  give  him  glory."     But  all  this  exertion 


of  the  Viah.  191 

of  power  and  authority  by  the  rulers,  and  this 
madness  of  the  people,  will  not  avail  thtm : 
for  when  the  fifth  angel  shall  pour  out  his  vial 
upon  the  seat  of  the  btast,  and  it  is  probably 
now  just  ready  to  be  poured  out,  his  knigdom 
will  be  full  of  darkness  ;  and  they  will  gnaw 
their  tongues  for  pain. 

-»  Mr.  Faber  has  very  justly  remarked— 
"Wherever  the  beast  is  simply  nientiont  d,  by 
way  of  eminence,  as  it  were,  I  believe  it  will 
invariably  be  found,  that  the  ten-horned  or  sec- 
ular beast  is  intended." 

Wliat  the  particular  kind  of  judgment  will 
be,  that  at  the  pouring  out  of  the  fifth   vial, 
shall  come  upon  them  that  worship  the  beast 
and   his  image,  is  not  here  revealed.     It  wiW 
be  one  that  will  deeply  affect  his  dominion, 
and  will  probably  go  nigh  to  destroy  it ;  for  it 
wilt  come  upon  the  very  seat  of  the  beast,  and 
will  fill  them  with  such  anguish,  that  thev  will 
gnaw  their  tongues  for  pain.     But  still  will 
they  blaspheme  the  God  of  heaven,  because  of 
their  pains  and  their  sores,  and   repent  nor  of 
their  deeds. 

**  And  the  sixth  angel  poured   out  his   vial 
upon  the  great  river  Euphrates  ;  and  the  water 


i%2  The  Vision  [lec.  ix. 

thereof  was  dried  up,  that  the  way  of  the  kings 
of  the  east  might  be  prepared." 

In  a  former  vision,  the  Euphrates,  according 
to  the  almost  universal  consent  of  all  commen- 
tators of  later  days,  is  a  symbol  of  the  Othmaa 
or  Turkish  Empire,  that  arose  on  the  borders 
of  that  river  ;  and,  according  to  every  princi- 
ple of  consistent  interpretation,  it  must  be  the 
same  here.  This  vial  therefore  includes  un- 
der it  the  destruction  of  the  Turkish  domin- 
ion, which  is  10  prepare  the  way  of  the  kings 
of  the  east.  Whether  this  is  to  open  a  way 
for  the  return  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  as  some 
have  supposed, to  come  and  inherit  the  land  giv- 
en to  them  by  promise,  and  live  and  reign  with 
Christ  a  thousand  years  :  or  whether  it  in- 
tends the  opening  of  the  way  for  the  thrones 
and  dominions  of  Asia  to  come  into  a  nearer 
intimacy  with  the  potentates  of  Europe,  that 
they  may  bv  gathered  with  them  to  partake 
in  the  judgments  of  the  last  vial  of  the  wrath 
of  God  cannot  I  suppose  now  be  determined. 
But  from  what  immediately  follows,  under  this 
vial,  it  would  seem  to  be  the  latter. 

*^  And  1  saw  threr  uncleaii  spirits  like  frogs 
come  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  dragon^  and  otit 


ef  the  Viah.  193 

©f  the  mouth  of  the  beast,  and  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  false  prophet. 

"  For  they  are  the  spirits  of  devils,  working 
miracles,  which  go  forth  unto  the  kings  of  the 
earth  and  of  the  whole  worlds  to  gather  them 
to  the  battle  of  that  great  day  of  God  AI- 
mighty." 

This  certainly  portends  a  day  of  wrath,  not 
only  for  the  dominion  of  the  beast,  but  also 
expressly  for  the  kings  of  the  whole  world* 
These  deluding  and  infuriating  spirits  come 
out  of  the  mouth  of  the  dragon  of  paganism, 
and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  beast  of  Roman  do- 
minion, and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  false  pro- 
phet, either  of  Mahommedism,  or  of  Romish 
ecclesiastical  tyranny :  and  they  are  instrumental 
of  a  universal  gathering  of  all  the  enemies  of 
Christ,  and  the  oppressors  of  his  people,  to 
suffer  his  indignation  in  the  pouring  out  of  the 
last  vial  of  the  wrath  of  God, 

**  And  he  gathered  them  together  into  a 
place  called  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  Armaged- 
don. "  That  is,  •'  the  cursing  to  utter  destruc- 
tron  at  Megiddo,"  as  the  name  is  explained, 
I  think  justly,  by  Mr.  Faber. 

"  And  the  seventh  angel  poured  out  his  vial 
into  the  air,  and  there  came  a  great  voice  out 
K 


494  The  Vision  lec.  iX 

fjf  the  temple  of  heaven  from  the  throne,  say- 
ing, It  is  done.'* 

In  explanation  of  this  I  qiiote  from  Scott's 
Commentary — **  Satan  is  called  t^e  prince  of 
the  power  of  the  airy  and  this  last  vial  will  be 
poured  into  the  seat  of  his  empire  ;  for  after 
it,  his  cause  in  every  place,  without  as  well  as 
within  the  dominions  of  the  beast  will  be  ruin- 
ed. A  proclamation  was  therefore  made,  that 
it  was  done,  or  finished  ;  as  under  the  seventh 
Irumpet,  the  mystery  of  God  was  to  be  finish- 
ed, (x.  7.)  Terrible  calamities... aw fu)  displays 
of  the  divine  presence... intestine  distractions, 
and  the  revolt  or  destruction  of  ciiies  and  na- 
tions, &c.  will  make  way  for  great  Babylon 
to  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  fierceness  of  God's 
wrath  ;  and  the  concurrent  judgments  ar-e  ds' 
scribed  in  the  strongest  language :  especially 
by  hail  stones  of  above  a  hundred  pounds 
weight  each  ;  which  must  dash  in  pieces  all 
persons  and  things  whatsoever,  on  which  they 
fall." — *'  It  is  clear  beyond  doubt,  that  convul- 
sions, revolutions,  and  the  wreck  of  nations,  to 
a  degree  and  extent  never  hitherto  vvituesscd^ 
or  recorded,  are  yet  to  be  expected,  before  the 
mystery  of  God  is  finished." 


of  the  Viats.  19^ 

**  And  there  were  voices,  and  thunders,  and 
lightnings  ;  and  there  was  a  great  earthquake," 
such  as  was  not  since  men  were  upon  the  earth, 
m  mighty  an  earthquake  and  so  great. 

"  And  the  great  city  was  divided  into  three 
parts,  and  the  cities  of  the  nations  fell  :  and 
great  Babylon  came  in  remembrance  before 
God,  to  give  unto  her  the  cup  of  the  wine  of 
the  fierceness  of  his  wrath. 

**  And  every  island  fled  away,  and  the  moun« 
tains  were  not  found. 

*'  And  there  fell  upon  men  a  great  hail  out  of 
heaven,  every  stone  about  the  weight  of  a  tal- 
ent :  and  men  blasphemed  God  because  of  the 
plague  of  the  hail ;  for  the  plague  thereof  was 
exceeding  great." 

The  pouring  out  of  the  seventh  vial  is  coin*- 
cident  with  the  judgments  of  the  seventh  trum- 
pet, and,  I  think,  seems  to  be  a  detail  of  those 
judgments.  The  former  trumpets  do  not  in- 
rilude  every  judgment  thai  fell  upon  men,  with- 
in the  period  of  time  v/hich  they  embrace. — 
They  only  announce  those  distinguished  judg- 
ments, by  which  some  important  change  was 
effected  in  the  state  or  condition  of  the  Church* 
On  the  same  principles,  the  seventh  trumpet, 
after  the  way  is  prepared  by  the  judgments  com- 


i95  The  Vision  [leg.  ix. 

prised  under  the  first  six  vials,  announces  the 
last  great  exterminating  judgments,  by  which 
the  existence  of  the  apostate  Church,  with  all 
its  earthly  connexions  and  establishments,  is 
brought  to  an  end. 

These  it  announces,  however,  in  more  gen*^ 
era!  terms  than  any  of  the  preceding  trumpets  ; 
and  the  detail  under  the  seventh  vial  seems  ne- 
cessary  to  make  it  as  explicit  as  they  had  been* 
Here  we  learn,  what  will  be  the  attending  cir- 
cumstances, and  the  effects  of  the  lightning  and 
voices,  and  thunderings,  and  an  earthquake,  and 
great  hail,  announced  by  the  seventh  trumpet. 

The  great  city,  or  Roman  community,  will 
be  divided  into  three  parts,  and  the  cities,  or 
associated  communities  of  the  nations  will  fall ; 
and  great  Babylon  will  come  into  remembrance 
before  God,  to  give  unto  her  the  cup  of  the 
wine  of  the  fierceness  of  his  wrath.  And  even 
the  separate,  and  isolated  structures  of  human 
inventions,  whether  secular  or  ecclesiastical, 
vAW  flee  away  :  And  the  mountains  of  human 
establishments  will  no  more  be  found.  And 
the  most  destructive  plagues  will  come  upon  all 
them,  that  do  not  truly  serve  Christ,  and  obey 
his  Gospel.  Thus  will  the  way  be  prepared, 
that  ';  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  may  be- 


of  the  Vials.  £97 

come  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ  ;  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and  ever.'^ 
He  will  utterly  destroy  them  that  now  destroy 
the  earth.  This  is  again  more  distinctly  fore- 
told in  the  19th  chapter,  where  He  that  is  Faith- 
ful and  True,  is  described  as  coming  forth, 
-clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood,  and 
the  armies  of  heaven  following  him,  that  he  may 
smite  the  nations,  and  tread  the  wine-press  <5f 
ibe  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty  God. 


a^ 


LECTURE  X. 


Sir. 


LECTURE  X. 


The  Warrdiw, 


REVELATION  xvi.  15. 


^  Behold,  I  come  as  a  thief  *  Blessed  is  he  that  zvatcM*- 
eth,  and  hepeth  his  garments  J  kst  he  walk  naked^ 
end  they  see  his  shameP 

JL  HIS  is  an  interesting  admonition. 

It  is  in  the  voice  of  the  exalted  Judge  oJT 
quick  and  dead,  that  it  is  proclaimed. 

It  relates  to  his  coming  to  execute  righteous 
judgment  on  the  adversaries  of  his  kingdom, 
and  to  give  the  kingdom  and  the  dominion  to 
the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most-High. 
And  it  admonishes  us,  that  this  his  coming  will 
be  sudden  and  unexpected  to  men  ;  and  will 
be  productive  of  most  decisive  and  important 
effects. 

It  is  introduced  in  that  part  of  **  the  Revela- 
tion  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  God  gave  unto 


^OS  The  JVarning.  [i.E€,  % 

Jiim,  to  shew  unto  his  servants  things  which 
tnust  shortly  come  to  pass,*'  where  the  seven 
iangels  are  seen  coming  forth  with  the  seven 
last  plagues,  in  which  is  filled  up  the  wrath  of 
God.  When  they  have  come  forth,  at  the  call 
of  the  great  voice  out  of  the  temple,  and  six 
of  them  have,  in  quick  succession,  poured  out 
their  vials  of  wrath,  and  \he  three  unclean 
-spirits  are  gone  forth  to  the  kings  of  the  earth, 
and  of  the  whole  world,  to  gather  them  to  the 
battle  of  the  great  day  ;— just  before  the 
pouring  out  of  the  last  vial,  which  is  to  fill  up 
the  measure  of 'God's  wrath.  While  those  un- 
clean spirits  are  busy  througli  the  whole  world 
to  stir  up  "Strife,  then  is  this  solemn  admoni- 
aion  introduced. 

In  the  midst  of  the  prophetic  representa« 
4ion,  when  the  awful  catastrophe  is  wound  up 
to  its  close,  and  the  finishing  of  it  is  ready  to 
be  revealed,  there  is  a  solemn  pause  of  the 
^.arnjtion.  The  interesting  representation  is 
suspended,  just  when  the  last  convulsion  is 
ready  to  be  disclosed!  aiid  the  voice  from  the 
temple  proclaims  the  admonition, 

*'  Behold,  1  come  as  a  thief.  Blessed  is  he 
that  watcheth,  and  kcepeth  his  garments,  Jest 
yhc  walk  naked^  and  they  see  his  &hame/' 


Tfte  fVcmihig;  ^oa 

Let  us  consider  this  admonition,  in  its  rela- 
tion to  the  event  it  announces  ; 

I.  In  the  nature  and  circumstances  of  tl^.at 
event. 

II.  In  its  effects. 

Ill    As  to  the  time  of  its  accomplisbmentv 

I.  As  to  the  nature  of  the  event — It  will  be 
a  very  solemn,  and  a  very  interesting  one  ;  the 
most  so  of  any  event  that  is  to  take  place  un- 
til the  day  of  the  last  judgment. 

Tht  descriptions  ol  it  in  the  prophecies  are  in 
so  many  respects  like  the  descriptions  of  tht-  last 
great  day,  that  many  have  believed  they  are  both 
one  :  and  that  when  the  seventh  trumpet  shall 
sound,  and  the  seventh  angel  shall  have  poured 
out  the  last  of  the  x  ials  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
there  shall  imnudiately  buccct  d  the  gathering 
of  the  natioiis  together,  to  btai.d  before  the  son 
of  man,  and  receive  their  final  award  of  judg- 
ment. 

There  will,  unquestionably,  be  a  great  and 
solemn  account  to  be  settled  in  that  day,  be- 
tween Chribt  and  the  world.  He  will  comt  to. 
iTiakc  mquisition  of  olood ;  and  to  avenge  the 
blood  of  his  haints,  that  has  been  shed  upoiv 
the  earth.     And  there  will  be  ^  great  gaUieriii^ 


g04j  The  Wavning,  [lec.  x, 

of  his  enemies  together  to  suffer  the  effects  of 
his  indignation. 

This  is  represented  here,  by  the  three  un- 
clean  spirits  going  forth  unto  the  kings  of  the 
earth,  and  of  the  whole  world,  to  gather  them 
to  the  battle:  and  by  the  thunderings,  and  the 
lighinings,  and  the  earthquake,  and  the  hail, 
that  shall  be  employed  as  the  instruments  of 
vengeance  in  that  day  :  and  especially  by  the 
calhng  all  the  fowls  that  fly  in  the  midst  of 
heaven,  to  gather  themselves  together  to  the 
supper  of  the  great  God,  that  they  eat  the 
flesh  of  kings,  and  the  flesh  of  captains,  and 
the  flesh  of  mighty  men,  and  the  flesh  of  horses, 
and  of  them  that  sit  on  them,  and  the  flesh  of 
all  men,  both  free  and  bond,  both  small  and 
great. 

These  representations  seem  to  intimate,  that 
God,  by  the  secret  ministers  of  his  wrath,  will 
sift  out  and  distinguish  his  enemies,  in  all  na- 
tions, or  certainly  in  all  that  have  borne  the 
Christian  name,  suffering  one  or  another  un- 
clean spirit  to  engage  them,  and  lead  them  out, 
and  distinguish  theni  for  destruction.  And 
when  they  shall  be  hhus  sifted  out  and  distin- 
guished, in  the  height  of  their  rage  and  their 
madness  with  which  the  unclean  spirits  will 


The  IFarning.  ^05 

inspire  them,  He  that  in  righteousness  doth 
judge  and  make  war,  will  come  forth  against 
them,  clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood, 
and  will  smite  the  nations,  and  tread  the  wine- 
press of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty- 
God.  And  so  blinded,  and  so  intoxicated 
will  they  be,  by  the  passions  and  the  rage 
which  the  unclean  spirits  will  stir  up  in  them, 
that  they  will  not  know,  or  regard  the  King  of 
kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  but  will  gather  them- 
selves together  to  make  war  against  him,  till 
they  shall  be  taken,  and  the  leaders  and  fore- 
most of  them  shall  be  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of 
fire  burning  with  brimstone  :  and  the  remnant 
shall  be  slain  with  the  sword ;  and  all  the 
fowls  be  filled  with  their  flesh.  In  this  will 
be  accomplished  that  alarming  circumstance 
declared  in  the  text,  *' Behold,  I  come  as  a 
thief." 

In  every  instance,  in  which  the  scriptures  re» 
veal  to  us  this  coming  of  Christ,  they  also  warn 
us  of  this  circumstance,  that  it  will  be  sudden 
and  unexpected  to  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth.  Whatever  may  be  the  reasons  wht/  it 
will  be  thus,  it  will  most  certainly  be  so.  In 
warning  his  disciples  on  this  subject,  Christ 
has  said,  *'  As  the  days  of  Noah  w^cre,  so  shall 
S 


200  The  Warnbig.         [lec.  x. 

also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be.  For 
as  in  the  days  that  were  before  the  flood,  they 
were  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and  giving 
in  marriage,  until  the  day  that  Noah  entered 
into  the  ark,  and  knew  not  till  the  flood  came 
and  took  them  all  away;  so  shall  also  thq 
coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be."  And  when 
he  represents  this  matter  in  the  parable  of  the 
ten  virgins,  he  describes  them  as  all  slumber- 
ing and  sleeping.  "  And  at  7nidmght  there 
was  a  cry  made,  behold  the  bridegroom  cometh, 
go  ye  out  to  meet  him." 

They  had  all  been  waiting  in  expectation  of 
his  coming  ;  yet  while  he  seemed  to  them  to 
tarry,  they  slept.  And  when  they  least  ex- 
pected it,  his  approach  was  announced.  In 
another  place  it  is  recorded,  that  he  warned  his 
disciples  of  the  coming  of  this  day  in  these  very- 
remarkable  words ;  '*  As  a  snare  shall  it  come 
on  all  them  that  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  whoh 
earthy 

Now  this  will  not  be  for  want  of  suitable 
warning  on  the  subject  ;  or  because  Christ 
will  hide  his  coming,  or  omit  to  give  the  pre- 
dicted signs  of  his  approach.  He  has  told  us 
what  shall  be  the  signs  of  his  coming,  and  has 
SO  distinctly  noted  them,  that  none  need  be 


The  Warning.  SO? 

taken  unawares  by  it,  unless  a  spirit  of  unbe- 
lief, or  some  dreadful  passion  blind  their  nniinds. 

The  old  world  did  not  perish  without  a 
warning.  They  had  long  and  distinct  warning 
by  the  space  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  : 
and  yet  they  knew  not  till  the  floods  came. 
Their  unbelief,  and  their  lusts,  and  their  paSo 
sions  prevailing,  the  warning  had  no  good  ef- 
fect on  their  minds.  So  also,  at  the  first  coming 
of  the  Son  of  man  ;  the  Jews  had  express 
prophecies  pointing  out  the  precise  time,  and 
the  distinguishing  signs  and  tokens,  that  should 
attend  his  coming  ;  and  they,  and  the  world 
generally,  were  looking  for  the  event,  at  the 
very  time  when  it  did  take  place.  Yet,  through 
the  pride  and  hardness  of  their  hearts,  and  the 
wilfulness  of  their  tempers,  they  knew  him  not^ 
when  he  appeared  among  them. 

S  o,  it  will  not  be  for  want  of  warning,  that 
this  awful  day  will  come  as  a  snare,  on  all  them 
that  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  The 
time  is  expressly  foretold,  both  by  the  desig- 
nation of  a  precise  number  of  years,  and  of 
the  course  of  events  that  shall  precede  it  ;  and 
by  comparing  the  time  with  the  times  of  other 
events  that  shall  prepare  the  way,  and  intro- 
duce it«    And  the  most  distinguishing  and 


^08  The  Waruing.  [li:c.  x. 

unequivocal  signs  and  tokens  of  its  approach 
are  ibreshown,  and  expressly  pointed  out  ia 
the  scriptures.  It  will  not  therefore  be,  be- 
cause men  cannot  distinguish  the  approach  of 
that  day  :  it  will  be  through  a  destitution  of 
that  lively  faith,  that  should  keep  their  minds 
ia  a  waiting  and  expecting  temper;  and  through 
a  dreadful  spirit  of  malignity,  distrust,  and 
worldly  speculations,  that  will  prevail  among 
men,  that  they  will  not  be  aware  of  that  day« 
Christ  has  said,  "  When  the  Son  of  man 
Cometh,  shall  he  find  faith  on  the  earth  ?*'  Not 
that  the  professsion  of  faith,  or  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth,  shall  be  less  at  that  day  than  in 
any  time  before.  It  is  probable,  from  the 
strain  of  prophecies,  and  from  the  present 
state  of  the  \vorld,  that  many  shall  run  to  and 
fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be  increased  previous 
to  that  day  :  and  perhaps,  a  much  greater  num- 
ber of  names  will  be  attached  to  the  profession 
of  the  Christian  religion  at  that  time,  than  in 
any  preceding.  But  the  spirit  of  the  world  will 
so  fill  up  the  minds  of  professing  Christians, 
and  the  lusts  and  the  passions  of  men  will 
bear  so  much  sway,  that  humble  and  expect- 
ing faith  will  scarce  be  found  at  all  in  that 
day. 


The  Warnhig.  209 

Many,  no  doubt,  will  be  deceived  by  the 
events  of  that  day  being  brought  about  con- 
trary to  their  preconceived  opinions  or  wishes. 
But  probably  the  greater  part  will  be  taken  by 
it  as  by  a  snare,  by  reason  of  their  being  en- 
gaged,  and  having  tTieir  passions  enlisted,  by 
those  very  events  that  will  introduce  it.     And 
while  He,  who  disposeth  these  events,  is  making 
his  way  to  the  speedy  accomplishment  of  his 
vengeance,  they  will  regard  them,  only  as  the 
actions  and  designs  of  men  are  concerned  in 
them,  and  taking  diierent  sides  on  those  sub- 
jects, they  will  contend  with  each  other,  till 
that  day  shall  overtake  them,  **asa  thief  in  the 
night."     It  is  probable,  that  but  few  of  Christ's 
own  people  will  be  found  in  that  humble  and 
expecting  temper,  which  is  necessary  to  pre- 
pare them  for  the  fearful  events  of  that  great 
and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord.     And  perhaps 
some,  even  of  them  that  shall  be  aware  of  its 
approach,  and  distinguish  the  signs  of  Christ's 
coming,  will  yet  so  suffer  their  lusts  and  pas- 
sions to  influence  and  occupy  them,  that  they 
will  be  wholly  unprepared  to  meet  him.     The 
Holy  Ghost  has  said,  by  the  prophet  Daniel, 
*'  And  some  them  of  understanding  shall  fallp 
to  try  them,  and  to  purge  and  make  them  whiter 
fi  2 


eiO  The  Warning.  lec.  x. 

even  to  the  time  of  the  end."  And  we  know 
it  was  the  case  in  his  first  advent,  that,  notwith- 
standing all  their  warning  on  the  subject,  the 
disciples  slept,  while  he  endured  the  agonies 
of  Gethsemane,  and  while  the  traitor  gathered 
his  band,  and  came  to  betray  their  Master  : 
and  after  he  was  taken,  they  all  forsook  him 
and  iled.  So  it  will  likely  be  in  that  day,  that 
either  tlirough  a  sluggishness  and  unbelief  of 
temper,  or  through  the  blindness  that  passion, 
and  jealousy,  and  ill  temper  will  occasion,  that 
day  will  take  by  surprize  most  even  of  the  fol- 
lowers of  Christ,  and  find  them  enprepared  for 
its  events.  Here  a  Simeon,  and  there  an  Anna, 
will  be  found  watching  and  praying,  and  will 
be  prepared  to  hail  the  morning  of  that  day^ 
that  shall  break  the  fetters  of  the  servants  of 
Christ,  and  cast  the  rod  of  oppression  into  the 
consuming  fire.  But,  v.'ith  only  these  few  ex- 
ceptions, **  As  a  snare  shall  it  come  on  all  them 
that  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  whole  eanL^\ 

Let  us  now  consider, 

II,  The  elTects  of  the  comi4ig  of  this  day. 

We  may  be  assured  that  it  will  be  emphat- 
ically, a  day  that  will  try  men's  souls. 

When  God  shall  siificr  those  wicked  and  de- 
luding spirits  10  go  forth  to  all  the  world;  fo^ 


The  Warning,  Sll 

the  express  purpose  of  enlisting,  and  drawing 
out  all  the  enemies  of  Christ  to  make  war  a- 
gainst  him  ;  and  when  it  is  his  design,  that 
they  shall  all  be  distinguished  and  known,  that 
he  may  pour  out  his  vengeance  in  a  most  sig- 
nal and  terrible  manner  upon  them,  there  will 
not  be  one  of  them  left  behind.  These  secret 
ministers  of  divine  wratli  will  enter  into  eve- 
ry place,  and  stir  up  the  wicked  passions,  on 
which  they  are  allowed  to  work,  in  every  breast, 
to  bring  them  forth.  They  are  said  to  be  ii/i:e 
JrogSj  I  suppose^  in  allusion  to  the  plagues  of 
Egypt,  when  tlie  frogs  were  brought  upon  the 
land,  and  came  into  the  houses  and  into  the  bed- 
chambers, and  on  the  beds,  and  into  the  houses 
of  the  servants,  and  into  the  ovens,  and  into  ihc 
kneeding-troughs,  so  that  no  place,  even  of  do- 
mestic recess,  escaped  them.  So  these  unclean 
spirits  will,  probably,  not  only  visit  ^very  neigh- 
borhood to  vent  their  malignant  poison,  and  stir 
up  the  wicked  passions  of  men  one  againat 
another ;  but  will  even  enter  into  every  family, 
and  into  the  very  bed-chambers ;  and  in  all  the 
relations  of  life  will  stir  up  jealousies,  and  strifes, 
and  wrath,  and  variance,  so  thcd:  every  enemy  t)f 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  will  be  stirred  up,  and 
provoked  to  disiinguishhimself  asanenemyj  and 


^iS  The  Warning.  [i.ec.  x. 

make  it  evident  to  all,  that  the  vengeance  to  be 
poured  out  upon  him,  will  be  a  just  and  lioly 
vengeance. 

Christ  himself  has  warned  us  on  this  sub- 
ject, (Lukt  xvii.  34,^  '*  In  that  night  there 
shall  be  two  in  one  bed  ;  the  one  shall  be  ta- 
ken,  and  the  other  shall  be  left,  Tv/o  shall 
be  grinding  together  ;  the  one  shall  be  taken 
and  the  other  left.  Two  shall  be  in  the  field  ;- 
the  one  shall  be  taken  and  the  other  left." — 
And  when  the  disciples  asked  him,  "  where. 
Lord  ?"  He  answered,  "  Wheresoever  the 
carcase  is,  thither  will  the  eagles  be  gathered 
together  :'*  Intimating  that,  with  all  the  acute- 
ness  in  which  the  eagle  discovers  carrion,  to  prey 
upon  it,  so  these  ministers  of  divine  wrath  will 
seek  and  search  out  all  its  objects,  and  not  one 
of  them  Vv^ill  escape.  It  will  be  a  day  of  fear- 
ful  terrors  to  all  the  enemies  of  Christ's  King- 
dom, when  he  shall  come  to  tread  the  wine- 
press of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty 
God,  and  none  of  them  will  be  suffered  to  es- 
cape. Though  they  hide  themselves  in  dens 
and  caves  of  the  mountains,  they  shall  not  be 
passed  by.  '*  He  will  slay  the  last  of  them  witb 
the  sword  :  he  that  fleeth  of  them  shall  not 
flee  away  ;  and  he  that  escapeth  of  them  shall 


The^  JVarning.  gl3 

shall  not  be  delivered"... (^/tioj  ix.  1,)  It  is  al- 
so added,  (verse  2d,)  "  Though  they  dig  into 
hell,  thence  shall  mine  hand  take  them  ;  though 
they  climb  up  to  heaven,  thence  will  I  bring 
them  down  :  and  though  they  hide  themselves 
in  the  top  of  Carmel,  I  will  search  and  take 
them  out  thence  ;  and  though  they  be  hid  from 
my  sight  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  thence  will  I 
command  the  serpent,  and  he  shall  bite  them." 
There  will  be  no  escaping  the  terrors  and  the 
judgments  of  that  day,  any  more  than  those  of 
the  last  judgment ;  but  in  all  lands,  where  the 
Gospel  has  been  preached,  every  enemy  will 
be  sought  out,  and  not  one  shall  escape.  In 
vain  will  they  call  to  the  rocks  and  mountains 
to  fall  on  them,  and  hide  them  from  the  face  of 
Him  that  sitteth  on  ihe  throne,  and  from  the 
wrath  of  the  Lamb  :  when  the  great  day  of  his 
wrath  is  come. 

Men  have  usually  been  accustomed  to  think 
of  Christ,  as  a  Lamb  who  does  nothing  else 
but  save  sinners  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself. 
But  they  will  then  find,  that  even  the  Lamb 
has  his  day  of  wrath.  There  is  a  time  for 
judgment,  as  well  as  a  time  for  mercy  :  and 
the  abusers  and  dcspistrs  of  Gospel  grace  shall 
yet  see  the  compassionate  Redccm<!r  of  men, 


ft  14  The  Warning.  [lbc.  x. 

when  he  will  have  put  on  all  the  terrors  of 
righteous  judgment,  and  bathed  his  sword  in 
heaven,  that  it  may  come  down  upon  the  people 
of  his  curse  to  judgment.  Hitherto  his  tri« 
umphs,  in  building  up  his  kingdom  on  the  earth, 
have  usually  been  the  triumphs  of  grace  :  and 
his  people  have  been  saved  under  oppressions, 
and  preserved  in  the  midst  of  dangers  and 
tribulations  :  while  the  wicked  have  enjoyed 
all  the  pride  and  the  splendor  of  external  tri- 
umph ;  and  his  enemies  have  reigned  in  the 
earth.  But  when  there  shall  have  been  enough 
of  this  fully  to  display  the  glory  of  his  provi- 
dence, and  the  faithfulness  of  his  care  to  pre- 
serve his  Church  in  the  wilderness,  and  to 
keep  his  people  safely  amidst  the  ragings  of  the 
savage  beasts  of  prey  that  have  thirsted  for  theif 
blood  ;  then  these  things  shall  have  an  end  ; 
and  the  Lord  will  awake  to  judgment.  He 
shall  go  forth  as  a  mighty  man  ;  and  shall  stir 
up  jealousy  like  a  man  of  war.  *'  The  Lord 
shall  rise  up  as  in  mount  Perazim  ;  he  shall 
be  wroth  as  in  the  valley  of  Gibeon,  that  he 
may  do  his  work,  his  strange  work  :  and  bring 
to  pass  his  act,  his  strange  act."  Strangle  as  it 
may  seem,  the  time  is  coming,  when  the  com- 
passionate Redeemer  of  sinners,  who  was  once 


The  Warning.  SI  if 

heard  to  groan,  and  seen  to  yield  himself  to 
the  death  of  the  crobs,  through  the  influence 
of  that  love,  stronger  than  death,  which  he 
ever  feels  toward  the  work  of  his  hands,  will 
yet  **  put  on  the  garments  of  vengeance  for 
clothing,  and  be  clad  with  zeal  as  a  cloak  ; 
that  according  to  their  deeds,  he  may  repay  fu- 
ry to  his  adversaries — recompense  to  his  ene- 
mies." He  intends  the  utter  ruin  of  that  pre- 
eminently wicked  one,  '*  whom  the  Lord  shall 
consume  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  shall 
destroy  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming  ;" 
and  the  entire  overthrow  of  all  his  enemies.  • 
And  however  he  may  prepare  his  way  for 
the  accomplishment  of  this  great  purpose  by 
the  gracious  influences  of  his  spirit,  and  by  ex- 
tending light  and  knowledge  among  men  ;  yet 
the  last  end  of  it  shall  be  with  a  flood,  and  unto 
the  end  of  the  war  desolations  are  determined. 
When  the  sealing  of  the  servants  of  God  shall 
be  completed,  there  will  then  be  an  awful 
pause  in  the  annals  of  mercy  ;  and  the  reign  of 
grace,  for  one  dreadful  moment,  will  seem 
suspended,  when  the  King  of  grace  shall  arise 
up  out  of  his  place,  and  put  on  the  robes  of 
judgment,  that  he  may  come  forth,  and  tread 


S16  The  Warning.  [lec.  x. 

the  wine-press  of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of 
Almighty  God. 

I  am  aware,  that  the  current  of  public  sen- 
timent, in  the  present  day,  does  not  favor  the 
expectation  of  such  events.  Christians,  weari* 
ed  with  beholding  the  scenes  of  blood  and 
desolation,  that  have  held  them  in  astonishment 
for  twenty  five  years  past,  seem  disposed  to 
hope,  that  the  days  of  vengeance  are  nearly- 
over  ;  and  that  the  triumphs  of  grace  shall 
now  complete  the  work  of  subduing  the  na* 
tions  of  men  to  the  obedience  of  faith.  I 
would  gladly  cherish  such  a  hope,  if  I  did  not 
fear,  that  it  would  become  the  means  of  hiding 
from  men's  observation  the  approach  of  a  day, 
often  described  in  the  scriptures  by  representa* 
tions  too  great,  too  terrible,  and  too  extensive 
in  their  import,  to  be  applied  to  any  thing  the 
world  has  yet  witnessed  ;  and  involving  in  it, 
changes  and  events  that  certainly  have  not  yet 
taken  place. 

It  will  indeed  be  a  fearful  day  to  the  ungod- 
ly among  men,  when  the  last  refuge  of  hope 
shall  be  covered  with  the  flame  ol  God's  jeaU 
ousy,  and  the  God  oi  mercy  himsetf  shau  rise 
up,  and  come  forth  out  of  his  place,  clothed 
with  a  vesture  dipped  in  bloody  and  his  sword 


The  Warning.  S17 

bathed  in  heaven,  that  he  may  avenge  the  blood 
of  his  saints,  upon  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth ; 
and  destroy  them  that  destroy  the  earth.  But 
such  a  day  will  yet  most  assuredly  come. 

In  that  day,  also,  "  The  Lord  will  search  Je- 
rusalem with  candles,  that  he  may  punish  the 
men  that  are  settled  on  their  lees  ;  and  that 
say  in  their  hearts,  the  Lord  will  not  do  good, 
neither  will  he  do  evil." 

The  pale  of  the  Church  will  be  no  defence, 
and  the  thick  veil,  the  deep  disguises  of  hy- 
pocricy,  will  be  no  covering  in  that  day.  It 
will  have  a  solemn  and  awful  effect  on  the  true 
Church  of  Christ,  and  upon  its  members  in- 
dividually.  The  unbelieving  must  be  punish- 
ed ;  and  all  that  in  any  way  hide  or  pervert  the 
counsel  of  God.  Some  of  the  true  disciples 
of  Christ  will  fall,  in  the  sight  of  the  world, 
and  become  victims  of  those  visible  temporal 
judgments  that  are  ordained  against  the  ene- 
mies. And  probably  the  far  greater  part  of 
them  will  be  affected  by  it  as  intimated  in  the 
warning. 

They  will  be  so  led  away  by  the  spirit  of  the 

world,  and  so  involved  in  the  quarrels,  and 

raging  passions,  and  worldly  speculations  of 

the  times,  that  when  the  light  of  that  day  shall 

T 


S18  The  Warnnig.  [lec.  x. 

break  upon  them  as  the  lightning  that  cometh 
in  the  east,  and  shineth  even  unto  the  west,  they 
will  be  like  men^  who,  walking  naked  in  the 
darkness,    have   suddenly   emerged   into   the 
light,  and  their  shame  is  exposed  to  the  sur- 
rounding  multitude.     **  Blessed   is   he    that 
watcheth  and  keepeth  his  garments,  lest  he 
walk  naked  and  they  see  his  shame.''     While 
men  suffer  jealousies,  and  passions,  and  pride 
to  reign  in  their  hearts,  they  easily  flatter  them- 
selves,  that  almost  any  conduct  or  sentiments, 
to  which  these  prompt  them,  is  right,  or  may 
at  least  be  excused  in  them.     By  this  means, 
they  become  enveloped  in  darkness  and  igno- 
rance of  themselves... are  strangers  to  their  true 
character,  and  obliterate,  in  a  great  measure, 
the  distinctions  between  virtue  and  vice,  and 
confound  truth  and  falsehood  together.     But 
when  the  light  of  that  day  shall  break  upon 
them,  they  will  be  deeply  conscious  of  the  ug- 
liness of  their  passions,  the  hatefulness  of  their 
ways,  and  the  shamefulness  of  thejr  pleas  and 
excuses,  by  which  they  have  attempted  to  jus- 
tify  themselves  before  men,  and  to   excuse 
themselves  to  God  ;    and  will  perceive  that 
others  discover  the  same  bhame  upon  them,  S9 


The  Warning.  gl9 

that  they  will  be  like  people  walking  naked,  and 
all  their  shame  uncovered. 

While  fear,  and  the  pit,  and  the  snare  shall 
be  upon  the  rest  of  the  world,  their  nakedness 
will  be  exposed,  and  their  shame  will  be  seen  ; 
and  the  Lord  will  take  a  signal  vengeance  of 
their  inventions  :  and  though  they  shall  be 
saved  in  that  day,  yet  shall  be  only  so  as  by 
fire  ;  for  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's  work, 
and  the  wood,  and  the  hay,  and  the  stubble 
shall  be  burnt  up. 

Only  those  few,  who  shall  be  clothed  with 
**  the  ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit, 
which,  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  is  of  great 
price,"  shall  escape  the  shame,  and  the  confu- 
sion, and  the  terrors  of  that  day,  and  be  ac- 
counted worthy  to  stand  before  the  Son  of  man, 
when  he  shall  appear  in  his  glory.  But  upon 
all  others  it  shall  come  as  a  snare.  '*  As  the 
fishes  that  are  taken  in  an  evil  net,  and  as  the 
birds  that  are  caught  in  the  snare,  so  shall  the 
children  of  men  be  snared  in  an  evil  time, 
when  it  falleth  suddenly  upon  them."  The 
shameful  and  wicked  passions  and  prejudices, 
by  which  even  pious  people  now  suffer  them- 
selves  to  be  influenced,  will  then  appear  in  their 


iitm  The  Signs  [lec.  :s:; 

true  light.  "  Then  shall  ye  return,  and  dis- 
cern between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  ; 
between  him  that  serveth  God,  and  him  that 
serveth  him  not." 

**  Therefore,  be  ye  also  ready  ;  for  in  such 
hour  as  ye  think  net,  the  Son  of  man  cometh.*' 

•*  Blessed  is  that  servant  whom  his  lord, 
Yvhen  he  cometh,  shall  find  so  doing." 

We  are  now  to  consider, 

III.  The  time  of  Christ's  coming  in  these 
dread  events, 

THE   SIGNS  OF   THE   TIME&. 

III.  The  signs,  or  tokens  of  the  approach  of 
these  dreadful  and  decisive  events,  are  of  two 
kinds : 

1st.  The  dates  that  are  given  in  prophe- 
cy for  the  continuance  of  God's  forbearance, 
till  the  measure  of  the  iniquities  of  the  adver. 
sarics  of  his  kingdom  is  filled  up. 

And  2d,  The  accomplibhing  of  other  events, 
iliat,  according  to  the  v/ord  of  prophec},  are 
to  prepare  the  way  for  the  execution  of  God's 
wrath,  or  are  to  be  cotcmporancous  with  it, 

1st,  The  dates. 

The  onl^  definite  period  of  time  given  in 


of  the  times.  SSi 

the  book  of  the  revelation,  as  fixed  to  a  pre- 
cise number  of  years,  is  the  forty  and  two 
months, or  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  three 
score  days,  a  day  being  given  for  a  year,  at  the 
expiration  of  which  the  afflictions  and  oppres- 
sions of  the  saints  are  to  cease,  and  the  pollu- 
tions of  the  sanctuary  are  to  be  cleansed. 

This  period  is  given  in  relation  to  four  dif- 
ferent events. 

1st.  The  holy  city  being  given  to  be  trod- 
den under  foot  of  the  Gentiles  forty  and  two 
months,  (xi.  2.) 

2d.  The  prophesying  of  the  witnesses  for 
the  space  of  one  thousand  two. hundred  and 
three  score  days,  clothed  in  sacTc-cloth.  (xi.  3.) 

3d.  The  nourishing  and  preservation  of  the 
Church  in  the  wilderness  a  thousand  two 
hundred  and  three  score  days....(xii.  6  )  This 
is  also  again  spoken  of  in  the  1 4th  verse  of  the 
same  chapter,  as  to  continue  for  a  time  and 
times,  and  half  a  time— that  is,  three  years  and  a 
half,  or  forty  and  two  months  ;  which,  reckon- 
ing the  months  at  thirty  days  each,  is  one 
thousand  two  hundred  and  three  score  days, 
as  stated  in  the  6th  verse. 

4th  and  lastly,  The  continuance  of  the  pow- 
er of  the  beast   with  seven  heads   and   ten 
T  2 


gas  The  Sipis  [lec.  x, 

horns,  is  to  be  forty  and  two  months,  after  the 
healing  of  his  deadly  wound  in  his  head,  ia 
which  he  received  the  wound  by  a  sword  and 
yet  did  live.... (C/^fl/>.  xiii.  5.)  "Power  was 
given  unto  him  to  continue  forty  and  two 
months  ;"  or,  more  literally  rendered,  "  Pow- 
er was  given  him  to  do,"  or  "to  act". ..That 
is,  I  suppose,  to  opcupy  his  place  and  main- 
tain his  beastly  state,  and  tyrannize  over  the 
saints  **  forty  and  two  months." 

These  events  seem,  in  their  nature,  so  inti- 
mately connected  with  each  other,  and  in  the 
prophecy  revealed  in  such  connexion,  that,  as 
they  all  have  precisely  the  same  duration  as- 
signed them  ;  so,  I  suppose,  the  time  of  their 
Commencement,  and,  of  course,  the  time  of 
their  ending,  must  be  very  nearly  the  same 
with  all  of  them.  If,  therefore,  we  could  as- 
certain  the  beginning  of  this  period,  in  refer- 
ence to  any  one  of  the  four  events,  it  would 
very  nearly  determine  the  times  of  the  others. 

The  giving  of  the  holy  city  to  be  trodden  un- 
der foot  of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  retiring  of  the 
Church  into  the  wilderness  from  the  fi\ce  of 
the  serpent,  and  the  two  witnesses  putting  on 
their  sack -cloth,  are  events  that  I  am  persuaded 
had  their  beginning  before  the  close  of  the 


of  the  times.  22S 

sixth  century.     The  history  of  the  latter  part 
of  this  century  is  as  strongly  indicative  of  the 
state  of  things  intended  by  these  representa- 
tions, as  that  of  almost  any  succeeding  age. 
But  the  histories  we  have  of  these  times,  ex- 
cept the  jejune  and  uncertain  one  that  bears 
the  name  of  Evagrius,  have  all  been  composed 
in  later  ages,  from  the  few  and  doubtful  public 
records,  and  detached  tracts  that  have  passed 
through  the  dark  ages,  to  the  revival  of  letters 
in  the  13th  century,  and  most  of  them  to  tlie 
invention  of  printing  in  the  15th.     It  is  there- 
fore  not  to  be  accounted  strange,  if  we  can  fix 
on  no  one  precise  date,  that  from  the  light  of 
such  history  seems  eminently  distinguished  by 
circumstances,  that  would  unequivocally  mark 
the  commencement   of  these  events.     From 
their  nature,  I  suppose,  they  must  have  been 
nearly  connected  in  time  with  the  prevailing  of 
the  power  of  the  beast  with  seven  heads  and 
ten  horns.     But  as  there  was  a  difference  of 
almost  two  hundred  years,  between  the  rising 
of  the  first  and  of  the  last  of  the  principalities 
represented  by  the  ten  horns,  and  as  the  union 
of  these  principailities,  in  giving  their  strength 
and  power  to  the  beast,  was  not  an  event  all  at 
once  brought  about,  and  made  manifest  by  any 


^^A^  The  Signs  lec.  x, 

explicit  general  compact  or  act  of  union,  it 
seems  difficult  to  fix  the  aera  of  this  event. 

There  is,  however,  an  intimation  on  this  sub- 
ject, in  the  2d  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians, 
that  seems  to  have  in  it  something  decisive. 
The  spirit  of  inspiration  is  unquestionably  the 
best  guide  to  the  interpretation  of  the  prophe- 
cies, which  he  has  dictated. 

Speaking  of  the  man  of  sin,  the  son  of  per- 
dition, the  Apostle  says  *'  Ye  know  what 
withholdeih  that  he  might  be  revealed  in  his 
time.  For  the  mystery  of  iniquity  doth  aU 
ready  work,  only  he  who  now  letteth,  will  let, 
until  he  be  taken  out  of  the  way  ;  and  then 
shall  that  wicked  be  revealed.*'  The  tradition 
that  this  hindrance,  which  prevented  the  re- 
vealing of  the  man  of  sin,  was  the  dominion 
of  the  ancient  Roman  empire,  is,  I  think, 
worthy  of  full  credit.  And  whatever  may  be 
meant  by  this  man  of  sin,  we  must  look  for 
his  manifestation  immediately  upon  the  old 
Roman  dominion  being  removed  out  of  the 
^vay.  This  seemed  to  be  accomplished,  when 
the  title  of  emperor  expired  with  the  reign  of 
Augustulus,  in  476.  But  as  the  senate  and 
consuls  still  continued  to  exercise  their  office, 
and  the  Church  of  Rome  siill  acknowledged 


of  the  times.  t^o 

the  authority  of  the  emperor  of  the  east,  there 
was  not  yet  an  opportunity  for  his  being  fully 
revealed.  But  when  the  entire  dominion  of 
the  old  Roman  empire  ceased,  and  no  longer 
stood  in  the  way  to  hinder  the  exaltation  of  the 
man  of  sin,  then  was  he  revealed,  and  com- 
menced his  full  career  of  iniquity. 

The  eastern  emperor  withdrew  his  deputy 
from  Rome,  and  gave  up  the  city  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  pope,  in  the  year  552.     But  it 
was  not  till  566  that  the  entire  dominion  of  the  «sr^Ml 
Roman  senate  ceased,  and  the  whole  form  of    ^-'"^ 
the  old  Roman  government  was  abolished,  and  Jf0  y^ 
gave  full  scope  to  the  dominancy  of  him,  who 
opposeth  and  exalteth  himself,  above  all  that 
is  called  God,  or  that  is  worshipped.  te^- 

It  is  true  that  there  is  no  specific  period  "ca^^^^^^TZ 
tioned  in  prophecy  for  the  continuance  of  the  ^^  r  . 
papacy,  which  seems  chiefly  to  be  intended  by       / 
the  man  of  sin ;   neither  is  there  any  period 
assigned  in  the  revelation,  for  the  continuance 
of  the  beast  with  two  horns  like  a  lamb,  or  the 
spiritual  tyranny  of  the    Romish  priesthood. 
But  the  union  of  these  powers,  as  they  are  in 
fact  one  in  their  nature  and  j:>»  incipies,  seems  to 
be  intended  by  the  little  horn,  wiiich  the  pro- 
phet Daniel  saw  coming  up  auiong  the  tea 


226  The  Signs  [lec.  x. 

horns  of  the  fourth  beast.  And  of  him  it  is 
there  said,  the  saints  shall  be  given  into  his 
hands  for  a  time,  and  times,  and  the  dividing  of 
time,  which  is  the  same  period,  that  is  assign- 
ed  for  the  continuance  of  the  beast  with  seven 
heads  and  ten  horns.  Indeed,  so  intimately 
blended  with  each  other,  are  all  the  three  pow* 
ers  predicted  in  the  13th  chapter  of  the  Reve- 
lation, and  so  dependent  on  each  other  for 
support  and  continuance,  that  it  seems  scarcely 
possible,  that  they  can  subsist  separately,  or 
any  one  of  them  much  outlive  the  others.  So 
also  in  their  origin,  they  are  probably  to  be  ac- 
counted  nearly  coeval. 

Now  the  dragon  is  said  to  give  the  beast 
with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns  his  power  and 
his  seat,  and  great  authority.  But  this  seat 
could  not  be  occupied  by  a  new  dynasty,  until 
vacated  by  the  old  ;  therefore  the  succession 
of  this  beast,  cannot  be  dated  till  the  old  Ro- 
man form  of  government  entirely  ceased  and 
was  abolished.  The  very  same  event  was  ne- 
ccssary  to  make  way  for  the  revealing  of  this, 
as  for  the  revealing  of  the  other  dominions 
predicted  in  connexion  with  it  in  the  same 
chapter.  The  old  Roman  form  of  govern- 
ment must  cease,  and  be  taken  out  of  the  wav, 


of  the  times,  227 

before  any  of  them  could  occupy  the  places 
assigned  them,  and  exercise  their  beastly  do- 
minion, as  ascribed  to  them  in  the  prophecy. 

This  took  place  in  566,  when  that  which 
hindered  the  revealing  of  the  man  of  sin,  was 
taken  out  of  the  way,  and  the  form  of  dominion 
of  the  fourth  kingdom  on  the  earth  was 
changed,  to  admit  of  the  last  form  of  that  do- 
minion coming  forward  to  occupy  its  place  and 
exercise  its  authority. 

The  seat  of  the  dragon  would  not  be  left 
long  vacant,  nor  the  man  of  sin  any  longer  b^ 
withheld,  when  that  which  hindered  was  taken 
out  of  the  way.  Accordingly,  every  thing 
was  already  prepared,  at  that  time,  for  the 
coming  in  of  this  triple  aiiiance  of  anti- chris- 
tian powers. 

The  ten  principalities  were  already  estab- 
lished, and  only  v/aited  the  entire  removal  of 
the  ancient  form,  to  have  the  transfer  of  the 
supreme  authority  made  by  the  dragon  to  them, 
that  they  might  succeed  to  the  seat  and  domin- 
ion of  the  old  Roman  Empire. 

The  code  of  the  Roman  laws  that  was,  by 
their  adopting  it,  to  identify  them,  in  after  times, 
as  the  legal  succej^sors  to  the  dominion,  had 
been  formed  and  published  by  Justinian,  a  lit,>- 


228  The  Signs  [ixc.  x, 

tie  more  than  thirty  years  before  :  and  at  what- 
ever time  they  may  have  in  any  way  explicitly 
adopted  this  code  ;  yet,  as  they  from  the  first 
came  into  man}^  of  the  principles  of  jurispru- 
dence of  the  people  whom  they  conquered,  and 
widi  whom  they  intermingled,  1  think  they 
must  be  reckoned  to  have  commenced  their  do- 
minion, as  the  last  form  of  the  fourth  kingdom 
on  earth,  immediately  on  the  entire  removal 
and  dissolution  of  the  preceding  form. 

So,  likewise,  the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  spiritual  dominion  had  been  adopted,  and 
acted  on  before  this  time.  Justinian  had  also 
thirty  years  before  published  his  Novelise,  or 
ecclesiastical  canons,  for  regulating  the  polity 
of  the  Church,  which  to  this  day  are  the  foun- 
tain of  canon  law  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
to  all  the  ecclesiastical  establishments  that  have 
copied  from  her.  These,  however,  were  ad- 
ministered by  the  authority  of  the  Emperor,  as 
long  as  Justinian  lived,  and  in  the  dominion  of 
the  Empire,  as  long  as  it  lasted  in  the  west : 
but  when  Justinian  died,  in  565,  and  the  last  re- 
mains of  the  ancient  form  of  government  in  the 
west  was  removed,  in  the  year  followi  ^  ;  then, 
the  beast  that  rose  up  out  of  the  earth,  or  the 
tiierarchy  of  the  church  of  Rome,  took  the  ad- 


of  the  Times.  S29 

ministration  on  themselves,  and  constituting 
an  ecclesiastical  empire  under  the  Bishop  of 
Home,  as  the  Image  of  the  ancient  beast,  in 
his  name  administered  the  government  of  the 
Church, 

Thus,  when  that  which  hindered  was  taken 
out  of  the  way,  then  was  that  Wicked  revealed, 
whose  coming  is  after  the  working  of  Satan, 
with  all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying  wonders, 

Serez,  a  French  historian,  says  *'  The  Bish- 
op of  Rome  lived  there  amidst  the  confusions 
of  the  Empire,  even  at  Rome.  Whereas  the 
Emperors  were  seldom  seen  there  ;  which  for* 
ced  Christians  to  fly  to  their  Bishop  for  coun- 
sel, and  laid  the  foundation  for  their  authority.'* 
And  again,  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, he  says  **  The  Pop;-  of  Rome  thrust 
himself  forward  amidst  these  confusions  and 
ruins  of  the  Empire,  recovering  that  which 
the  Emperors  had  lost,'* 

Thus  was  the  way  preparing,  and  the  new 
form  of  dominion  was  coming  forward,  as  the 
old  retired  and  gave  way.     The  actual  change, 
when  the  new  dominion  must  be   considered  ! 
as  absolutely  taking  place  of  the  old,  cannot,  I  i 
think,  be  dated  later  than  566,  when  the  last  re-  1 
mains  of  the  ancient  form  entirely  ceased  :  for  | 
U 


230  The  Signs  [lec.  x. 

so  fully  was  every  thing  prepared  and  matured 
for  the  coming  in,  and  establishment  of  the  new 
dominion,  that  the  history  of  the  times,  for 
some  years  before  this  period,  seems  to  be  the 
history  of  that  new  dominion  :  and  nothing  but 
the  two  facts,  1st,  of  the  ancient  form  of  the  Se- 
nate and  Consuls  being  continued  to  that  time. . . 
and,  2d,  of  the  dominion  of  the  beasts  that  suc- 
ceeded being  continued  to  the  present  time, 
could  seem  to  warrant  us  in  fixing  the  date  of 
this  change  so  late  as  566.  For  14  years  be- 
fore this  time,  even  the  claim  of  the  emperor  of 
the  east  to  a  secular  dominion  in  Rome  had 
been  withdrawn  ;  and  although  the  eastern 
emperors  continued  to  attempt  something  in 
the  general  government  of  the  universal 
Church,  as  they  had  formerly  been  used  to 
hold  a  dominion  over  it,  yet  after  the  death 
of  Justinian,  their  authority  was  very  little  re- 
garded, and  never  again  had  efficacy  in  the 
west  to  control  or  limit  the  spiritual  dominion. 
As  to  the  open  revealing  of  the  spiritual  do- 
minion, or  the  kingdom  of  the  little  horn 
described  by  Daniel,  Machiavel  himself  says 
expressly,  *'  Upon  the  coming  of  the  Longo- 
bards  into  Italy,  began  the  evident  and  open 
State  of  the  Pope's  kingdom."     Now  this  was 


of  the  times.  mi 

in  56Q.  I  perceive,  however,  no  sufficient 
reason  to  suppose  there  was  a  delay,  even  of 
two  years  only,  after  the  ancient  seat  of  the 
dragon  was  vacated  by  the  ancient  dynasty, 
and  that  which  hindered  the  revealing  of  the 
man  of  sin,  was  taken  out  of  the  way  ;  but 
that  the  anti-christian  triumvirate  commenced 
immediately  their  tyrannical  and  impious  ca- 
reer. 

This  was  in  566,  and  if  to  this  be  added,  the 
period  assigned,  1260  years,  for  the  existence 
of  their  dominion,  it  must  end  in  1826. 

Mr.  Faber  has,  I  think,  sufficiently  exposed 
the  mistake  of  former  commentators,  in  sup- 
posing, that  the  little  horn  intends  the  temporal 
authority  of  the  Popes,  and  that  consequently 
the  saints  could  not  be  given  into  his  hands,  till 
he   becaoie  a  temporal   Prince.     But  he  has 
himself  mistook,  I  think,  in  supposing  that 
they  were  given  into  his  hands  by  the  grant  of 
Phocas,  giving  the  Pope  the  title  of  universal 
Bishop.     He  had  already  been  recognized  ia 
the  code  of  Justinian,  as  the  head  of  all  the 
Churches,  and  the  Bishop  of  Bishops.     The 
truth  is,  that  the  saints  had  long  before  this 
been  oppressed  by  the  old  Roman  Beast,  who 
changed  not  his  beastly  character  by  professing 


S8S  The  Signs  [lec.  x. 

Christianity,  but  sliil  continued  to  rule  with 
beastly  authority,  and  hold  the  saints  under  his 
dominion,  as  long  as  that  dominion  lasted 
in  the  West :  and  when  that  ceased,  and  the 
dominion  passed  over  to  thenewanti-christiati 
powers,  the  transfer  was  made,  not  by  any 
grant  or  proclamation  of  man,  but  by  the  pro- 
vidence of  God,  suffering  the  coming  in  of  this 
new  dominion,  and  thus  giving  the  saints  into 
the  hands  of  the  little  horn,  "  Until  a  time,  and 
times,  and  the  dividing  of  time."  This  was 
net  the  beginningof  the  saints  being  subjected 
to  beastly  domination,  nor  was  it  the  beginning 
of  the  Pope's  claiming  such  a  domination  for 
liimself  over  them  ;  but  it  was  the  beginning  of 
his  being  suffered,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
to  come  into  the  actual  exercise  of  this  domin- 
ion,  in  connexion  with  other  anti- christian  pow- 
ers, who,  instead  of  hindering,  as  the  ancient  gov- 
ernment  had  done,  this  exercise  of  dominion,  not 
only  assented  to  it,  but  supported  it,  as  securing 
to  them  the  stability  of  their  own.  This  is  the 
last  form  of  the  fourth  and  last  beastly  king- 
dom that  shall  be  upon  the  earth,  whose  dura- 
tion is  limited,  also,  to  1260  years  from  its 
commencement.  At  the  expiration  of  that 
time,  whenever  it  may  be,  their  destruction 
Vv'ill  be  inevitable. 


oj^  the  times.  233 

2dly.  We  must  look  also  to  the  course  and 
succession  of  the  events  predicted,  to  ascertain 
the  progress  of  their  accomplishing  ;  for  noth- 
ing shall  be  able  to  divert  this  course,  or  to 
hinder  or  delay,  even  for  one  moment,  the 
accomplishing  of  these  events,  precisely  ac- 
cording to  the  prediction.  He  who  declareth 
the  end  from  the  beginning,  hath  given  the 
revelation  of  them  to  his  servants,  for  their  in« 
struction  and  warning. 

I  suppose  that,  according  to  the  explanation 
I  have  here  given  of  the  order  and  progress  of 
the  prophetic  visions,  the  events  disclosed  by 
the  opening  of  the  sixth  seal,  must  have  begun 
to  be  accomplished — (vi,  12.) 

The  first  concussions  of  that  great  earth- 
quake have  already  been  felt,  and  although 
there  may  be  short  intervals  of  awful  stillness, 
yet  the  concussions  will  continue  to  be  renew- 
ed, till  the  total  removing  of  the  things  that 
are  shaken  shall  be  completed.  The  thrones 
and  dominions  of  the  earth,  both  secular  and 
ecclesiastical,  have  begun  to  be  shrouded  in 
darkness,  and  covered  with  blood,  and  the 
princes  and  potentates  to  fall  from  their  high 
places,  '^  even  as  a  fig-tree  casteth  her  untimely 
figs,  when  she  is  shaken  of  a  mighty  wind.'* 


^34  The  Signs  [lec.  x. 

I  suppose,  also,   that  of  the  seven   angels 
which  have  the  seven  last  phigues,  in  which  is 
iilied  up  the  wrath  of  God,  and  which  are  de- 
scribed as  following  each  other  with  an  awful 
rapidity  in  their  succession,  the  first  four  have 
already  poured  out  their  vials  of  wrath  ;  and 
that  we  may  be  daily  looking  for  the  fifth  to 
begin  to  take  effect,  and  fill  the  kingdom  of  the 
beast  with  darkness,  and  cause  them  that  are 
'    attached  to  it,  to  gnaw  their  tongues  for  pain. 
And  that  very  soon  after  this,  and  perhaps  in  a 
'    measure  coteraporaneous  v/ith  it,  the  pouring 
.     out  of  the  sixth  vial  udll  bring  on  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Turkish  empire,  and  open  the  way 
I     for  the  kings  of  the  east  to  come  in  for  their 
portion  in  the  events  of  the  last  day.     They 
^    have  long  enslaved  multitudes  of  them  that 
\   have  borne  the  Christian  name. 

After  this  there  will  probably  be  a  general 
1  cessation  of  the  nations,  for  a  little  season, 
from  the  tempests  and  desolations  of  war, 
I  Nvhile  the  four  angels,  standing  on  the  four 
corners  of  the  earth,  hold  the  four  winds  of 
'  the  earth,  till  the  servants  of  the  living  God 
I    shall  be  sealed  in  their  foreheads... .(vii.  1.) 

During  this  calm,   the  dispersed  of  Israel 
\  will  begin  to  be  gathered  to  the  land  of  their 


of  the  times.  235 

inheritance,  and  be  brought  to  the'  knowltdgc!  j 
and  acknowledgment  of  Christ  as  the  true  I 
Messiah.. ..(vii.  4.) 

True  Christians  will  then  generally  be  con-  \ 
vinced,  that  the  liour  of  God's  judgment  is  ) 
come,  and  there  will  be  a  general  concurrence  ( 
among  them,  and  a  union  of  successful  eftorts  | 
to  spread  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  among  { 
the  nations.... (xiv.  6  and  7.)  \ 

And  while  the  servants  of  the  living  God  \ 
are  thus  separating  themselves,  and  receiving  \ 
his  seal  in  their  foreheads,  that  they  may  be 
distinguished  as  his  servants,  the  three  unclean 
spirits  will  be  executing  their  commission,  to  / 
distinguish  also  his  enemies,  and  gather  the  / 
kings  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  whole  world,  / 
with  their  marshalled  hosts,  to  suffer  the  ven-  I 
geance  of  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  / 
lords. ...(xvi.  13  ^pd  14.) 

When  these  things  shall  be  accomplished, 
and  every  thing  thus  prepared,  the  calm  will 
be  interrupted,  and  the  silence  broken  by  the 
sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet  in  an  unex- 
pected moment,  and  the  pouring  out  of  the 
seventh  vial,  when  men  have  become  most  con- 
fident in  their  security.  The  great  city  will 
then  be  divided  into  three  parts. 


r^3C}  Condiision. 

The  cities  of  the  nations  will  fall. 

Gn  at  Babvlon  will  be  made  to  drink  the  cup 
©f  the  wine  of  the  fierceness  of  God's  wrath. 

The  Beast  and  the  False  Prophet  will  be 
taken  and  cast  alive  into  an  endless  perdition ; 
and  the  remnant  of  their  hosts  will  be  slain  with 
the  sword  of  him,  that  in  righteousness  doth 
judge  atid  make  war. 

Then  Satan  shall  be  bound  a  thousand  years, 
and  a  seal  be  put  upon  him,  that  he  shall  de- 
ceive the  nations  no  more,  till  the  thousand 
years  shall  be  fulfilled.  And  the  saints  shall 
live  and  reign  with  Christ  a  thousand  years. 

CONCLUSION. 

1  have  now  given  such  an  abstract  of  my 
Lectures  on  this  great  and  interesting  subject, 
as  will,  I  hope,  make  the  plan,  on  which  I  would 
explain  the  Visions  of  the  Revelation,  intelligi- 
ble to  my  readers.  Perhap?  a  fear  of  burden- 
ing the  volume  with  matter  not  absolutely  ne- 
cessary to  my  purpose,  may  have  prevailed  to 
leave  some  parts  but  indistinctly  explained.— 
Those  things  which  I  found  satisfactorily  ex- 
plained in  any  of  the  writers  on  the  subject, 
^vho  are  commonly  held  in  high  esteem,  as 
Newton,  Scott,  and  Fabcr,  1  have  passed  over^ 


Concliisioiu  nzT 

with  only  those  observations  which  seemed  ne- 
cessary to  show  their  place,  in  the  plan  I  would 
adopt.  The  last  Lecture,  as  the  subject  seem- 
ed to  require  it,  I  have  given  entire.  Some  of 
them,  that  were  confined  to  the  illustration  of 
particular  subjects,  are  wholly  omitted. 

As  they  are  here  given,  I  beg  leave  to  sub- 
mit them  to  the  consideration  of  my  Christian 
Friends,  and  particularly  of  my  Brethren  in 
the  Ministry. — If  in  my  retired  situation  I  have 
found  more  leisure,  than  they  usually  enjoy, 
and  have  had  my  attention  more  turned  to  this 
particular  subject,  they  will  on  this  account  al- 
low me  a  claim  on  their  attention  to  what  I 
submit  to  their  consideration.  I  make  no  pre- 
tensions  to  any  other  claim.  Of  the  nature, 
the  greatness,  and  the  extent  of  the  changes  I 
have  supposed  are  predicted,  as  soon  to  take 
place  in  the  religious,  the  moral,  and  the  polit- 
ical world,  I  have  the  more  confidence,  because 
I  have  found  so  sober  and  j-idicious  a  Com- 
mentator as  Doct.  Scott,  speaking  of  them  as 
unquestionably  intended  by  the  prediction, — 
And  since  preaching  these  Lectures,  I  have  ac- 
quired some  confidence  to  have  them  publish- 
ed, by  finding  in  the  Appendix  to  Mr.  Faber's 
second  edition  of  his  Dissertation,  which  I  had 


^38  iJondmion, 

not  before  seen,  that  both  he  and  Archdeacon 
Woodhouse  are  agreed  in  the  leading  princi- 
ple, which  induced  me  to  depart  from  the  com- 
monly  received  opinion,  in  explaining  the  Vis- 
ion of  the  Seals.  In  most  of  the  other  instan- 
ces in  which  I  have  departed  from  the  general 
opinion,  I  have  ventured,  as  f\ir  as  I  know, 
without  the  support  or  countenance  of  names. 
And  I  frankly  acknowledge,  it  is  very  much 
for  me  to  adventure.  But  I  have  not  done  it 
hastily,  or  inconsiderately  ;  and  I  trust  I  have 
not  done  impiousl3^ 

If  my  general  plan  be  in  any  good  measure 
correct,  it  must  involve  in  it  matters,  that  I 
confess,  I  have  not  confidence  at  present  to 
state  :  and  that  very  nearly  concern  the  duty, 
and  the  interests  of  all  the  true  servants  of  Christ 
in  these  days. 

I  anxiously  wait  the  judgment  of  my  Chris- 
tian Friends. 


THI5  END. 


CONTENTS. 


Lecture  1.     lalvodiictory. 

Rev.  i.  1. 

<•  The  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  God  gave  unto  him, 
to  shew  unto  his  servants  things  which  mu&t  si.urtly  couje  to 
pass  ;  and  he  sent  and  signified  it  by  his  angei  unto  his  ser- 
vant John."          - Page     7 

Lec.  S.     The  Vision  of  the  Sealed  Book, 

Rev.  v.   1. 
""  And  I  saw  in  the  right  hand  of  hinfi  that  sat  on  the  throne  a 
book  written  wiihin,  and  on  the  back  side  sealed  with  seven 
seals. ♦» 23 

Lec.  3.     The  Sounding  of  the  Trumpets. 

Rev    viii.  2. 
'"  And  I  saw  the  seven  angels  which  stood  before  God  ;  and  to 
them  were  given  seven  trumpets."         -      .      47 

Lec.  4.     The  Little  Booh. 

Rev.  X.  11. 

"  And  he  said  unto  me,  Thou  must  prophecy  again  before 
many  peoples,  and  nations,  and  tongues,  and  kings."     .   75 

Lec.  5.     The  Fevsecutions  of  the  Dragon. 

Rev.  xii.   1. 
**  And  there  appeared  a  great  wonder  in  heaven  ;  a  Woman 
clothed  with  the  sun,  and  the  moon  under  her  feet,  and  upon 
her  heaid  a  crown  of  twelve  stars."         -        -        -         -    99 

Lec.  6.     The  Vision  of  the  Beasts. 

Rev.  xiii.   1. 

**^  Aiid  I  stood  upon  the  sand  of  the  sea,  and  saw  a  Beast  rjse 

up  out  of  the  sea,  having   seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and 

upon  his  horns  ten  crowns,  and  upon  his  heads  the  name  of 

blasphemy." -119 


CONTENTS. 

liEC.  y.     The  Beast  with  two  Horns, 

Rev.   xlii     11. 
"  And  I   beheld  another   beast  coming  up  out  of  the  earth  ; 
and    he   nad   two  horns   like   a  lamb,  and   he   spake   as   a 
dragon." 143 

Lec.  8.      The  Ilarresl  and  the  Vintage. 

Kev.  xiv.   1. 
"  And  I  looked,  and,  lo,  a  Lanib  stood  on  the  nnount  of  Sion, 
and  wi'h   him    an  hundred  forty  and  four  thousand,  having 
his  Father's  name  written  in  ihcir  foreheads.'*  -      -     -     163 

Lec.  9.     The  Tlslon  of  the  Vials. 

Ilev  XV.  1. 
**  And  I  saw   another  sign  ^n  heaven,  great  and  marvellous, 
seven  angels  having  the  seven  last  plagues  ,  for  in  them  is  fill- 
ed up  the  wrath  of  God  " 185 

Lec.  10.     The   Warning, 

Rey.  xvi    15. 

"  Behold  I  come  as  a  thief.     Blessed  is  he  that  watcheth,  am 
keeperh  his  garments,  lest  he  walk  naked,  and  they  set  hi 

shame."  201 

Signs  of  the  timss,        ....         -        -    22( 
Conclusion, «■        -        236 


ERRATA. 

The  reader  will  please  to  siiike  out  the  (— )in  the  Tth  line  of] 
page  19  ;  insert  the  word  be  before  a  at  the  close  of  7th  line  off 
pa§9 168,  and  the  word  ?;J9' before  cat  in  the  12th  line  of  page  204. 


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A  syllabus  of  lectures  on  the  visions  of 

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